Animal rights activist, and Oscar-nominated star of ‘“Babe”, James Cromwell, voluntarily caged himself at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), as part of a protest against alleged cruelty to primates.
Cromwell joined members of the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), inside of the Tom Bradley International Terminal for a protest against Air France airlines. The seventy-four year old veteran actor was placed in a shipping crate large enough to fit his six-foot-seven-inch frame. While standing inside the crate that displayed the spray painted words “Live Primate” across the front, Cromwell held a sign that read; “Air France: Stop shipping primates to labs.”
Cromwell and the other protesters called for Air France to change their policies regarding the shipment of primates to laboratories. They demanded that Air France “join every other major airline in the world and stop transporting intelligent, social primates to laboratories, where they are tortured—sometimes for decades—before being killed.”
Cromwell sharesd his message on Twitter:
James Cromwell’s message to @AirFranceFR at #LAX airport: CRUELTY DOESN’T FLY.
Stop shipping monkeys 2 labs! pic.twitter.com/fXqzd13huA
According to a statement from PETA, which organized the action, Air France “is the only major airline in the world that still ships primates to laboratories, where they’re confined to cramped cages, poisoned with drugs and chemicals, infected with diseases, intentionally injured, deprived of food and water, and ultimately killed.”
“The real horror story is the pain and terror of the monkeys in Air France’s cargo holds beneath the feet of unsuspecting passengers,” said Cromwell . “My friends at PETA and I are telling Air France that cruelty shouldn’t fly and that the airline needs to join the rest of the industry in refusing to deliver primates to their deaths in laboratories.”
“Some of these animals come from squalid monkey farms, while others are torn away from their homes and families in the wild. The primates are crammed into small wooden crates and transported inside dark cargo holds for nearly 30 hours before they reach their final—and deadly—destination. Air France shipped at least 5,500 monkeys to U.S. laboratories in 2013,” said PETA.
Air France officials have not yet issued a response to the protest.
Cromwell has engaged in many protests on behalf of animals. Last year, the actor was arrested for interrupting a university board meeting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and demanding an end to cruel and deadly brain experiments on cats. The actor pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct charges and paid a fine.
Photo Credit: PETA
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