ANIMAL

R I G H T S
FOUNDATION
OF FLORIDA
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Nanci Alexander
President
Caren Lesser
Vice President
Laura Guttridge
Secretary/Treasurer

BOARD OF ADVISORS
U.S. Congressman
Ted Deutch, 19th District
Former U.S. Congressman
Peter Deutsch, 20th District
U.S. Congressman
Alcee Hastings, 23rd District
Former U.S. Congressman
Robert Wexler, 19th District
Cathleen Anderson
Former City Commissioner-Hollywood
President, Animal Birth Control
Stedman "Ted" Carr, D.V.M.
Doris Day
Actress, President
Doris Day Animal League
Jay Ferber, D.V. M.
Scott Fuerst, Esq.
Greenspoon Marder Law
Pam Huizenga
Ingrid Newkirk
President, PETA
IN MEMORIAM
Cleveland Amory

Promoting and protecting the rights of all animals.

April 17, 2015

VIA FACSIMILE & EMAIL
Hendry County Building, Licensing & Code Enforcement
P.O. Box 2340
LaBelle, Florida 33975

Dear Hendry County Building, Licensing & Code Enforcement:

This letter is concerning the investigation into possible violations of Hendry
Countys Land Development Code by Panther Tracts, LLC (dba Primate
Products) at 34200 Doctors Hammock Road.
The activities of Primate Products in Hendry County go beyond the breeding
and housing of monkeys, and include research, conducting major surgical
procedures, the training of animals, and the holding of professional workshops.
These activities are inconsistent with agriculturally zoned property.
Research
Research involving monkeys has taken place at Primate Products in Hendry
County. Please see attached USDA inspection report from September 2008.
Note that the site is identified as Primate Products, Inc. Immokalee (as
opposed to the companys Miami facility). The report mentions research
protocol #020, which included surgeries.
In addition, see the attached article that was published in March 2012 in the
journal Human Reproduction. On page two of the document, I have highlighted
a statement indicating that the research study began with surgery on animals
housed at Primate Products in Hendry County.
Surgical procedures above and beyond regular animal husbandry
Primate Products advertises the availability of Bioproducts (see attached
screen shot from http://www.primateproducts.com/services/bioproducts.html).
The collection of bioproducts such as tissues (e.g., skin, fat, muscle) and organs
from monkeys is not a common or simple animal husbandry procedure.
Instead, complicated surgical procedures are often required in the collection of
bioproducts. These procedures may necessitate the animals death. Please see
attached Primate Products SOPs for descriptions of bioproduct collection.
Animal training
Other services offered by Primate Products include temperament evaluations
of monkeys and operant conditioning training. (See:
http://www.primateproducts.com/blog/2015/01/28/behavioral-sciences-whatwe-can-do-for-you/)

Professional workshops
Primate Products regularly hosts Primadaption workshops at which animal technicians from
around the world learn about working with monkeys in a laboratory setting (see attached screen shot
from http://www.primateproducts.com/services/panther-tracks-learning-center-ptlc.html). These
training programs are held at the Hendry County property several times each year.
The zoning classification High intensity commercial (C-3), which includes Veterinary offices
and animal hospitals with outside kennels, or General commercial (C-2), which includes
Commercial or trade schools, would be more appropriate than an A-2 or other agriculture zoning
classification for the Primate Products property in Hendry County.
If Primate Products intends to no longer use live animals in research, testing, teaching, or
experimentation, the company should allow its USDA Class R license as a research facility to
expire.
We urge you to investigate these repeated violations of the Hendry County Code of Ordinances and,
if violations are found to have occurred, to impose the maximum penalty. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Nanci Alexander, President

1431 North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304 954-727-2733 Fax: 954-615-5643
www.arff.org arff@arff.org