Photos/Video: Protesters Arrested, Close Down Grocery Store Over Forced Monkey Labour in Thailand

Bangkok – Hours ago, PETA members in Washington DC wearing prisoner costumes and monkey masks were arrested inside a Whole Foods grocery store while holding a sit-in to protest the company’s sale of Thai coconut milk. PETA Asia investigations have revealed that monkeys in Thailand are caged, kept in isolation, chained for life, and trained via fear of punishment to pick coconuts. The group – one man and five women – joined more than 20 other protesters. They dumped wheelbarrows full of humanely picked coconuts before moving inside and sitting on top of registers, holding posters and chanting, “Whole Foods, stop abusing monkeys!” for more than an hour before being handcuffed by police officers and carried out of the store. Each was charged with unlawful entry. Following the protest, the store was closed for the rest of the day.

Video footage is available here, and photos are available here.

The action follows PETA’s successful campaign against HelloFresh, which will no longer obtain coconut milk from Thailand.

 Many monkeys used in Thailand’s coconut-picking industry are abducted from their forest homes as babies. Handlers put metal collars and leashes on them and sometimes remove their canine teeth so they can’t defend themselves. PETA Asia’s investigative footage shows trainers striking them, dangling them by their necks, and whipping them. Because the industry and the Thai government lie about and deceive consumers about their systemic reliance on monkey labour, it’s impossible to guarantee that any coconut milk from Thailand is cruelty-free.

“Thailand’s forced monkey labour is a damnable business, profiting off suffering primates for coconut milk,” says PETA Senior Vice President Jason Baker. “PETA is calling on companies to take a whole lot of cruelty off its shelves by selling canned coconut milk only from countries like India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, where monkey labour isn’t used.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAAsia.com or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

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