Marilyn W. Thompson

2 months ago | aikenstandard.com | Mitchell Black |Marilyn W. Thompson

YEMASSEE — Federal regulators have concluded that Alpha Genesis failed to follow animal welfare laws during an episode in which 22 monkeys died on a cold November evening. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released an incident report confirming the deaths that were first made public by animal rights activists. The report states that the company ran afoul of a section of the law that requires primates to be housed in a safely heated environment when the temperature drops.

2 months ago | postandcourier.com | Mitchell Black |Marilyn W. Thompson

YEMASSEE — The dead monkeys lay stacked in a laboratory refrigerator. They had been moved from Field Cage 18 at the rural South Carolina monkey farm after the night crew discovered them unresponsive or ailing in a heated enclosure on a cold November evening. A witness, for the first time, has described the events now under federal investigation to The Post and Courier.

Dec 20, 2024 | postandcourier.com | Mitchell Black |Marilyn W. Thompson

YEMASSEE — Alpha Genesis President Greg Westergaard confirmed an undetermined number of monkeys died in an enclosure over the Thanksgiving holiday but declined to fault an equipment failure at the breeding and research center as the cause. He said the deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning remain under investigation, including the possibility that extremists caused the incident. A Yemassee Police Department spokesperson said this was the first she heard about this potential issue at the company.

Dec 9, 2024 | postandcourier.com | Marilyn W. Thompson |Mitchell Black

YEMASSEE — Kathleen Conlee worries about the missing monkeys. Four young rhesus monkeys are still on the loose after eluding capture by search teams dispatched from a sprawling compound in a rural town. The monkeys should never have escaped from the fenced property where thousands of valuable primates are kept for eventual use in medical experiments, but Conlee knows it is not the first breach at the location run by Alpha Genesis.

Dec 9, 2024 | aikenstandard.com | Marilyn W. Thompson |Mitchell Black

YEMASSEE — Kathleen Conlee worries about the missing monkeys. Four young rhesus monkeys are still on the loose after eluding capture by search teams dispatched from a sprawling compound in a rural town. The monkeys should never have escaped from the fenced property where thousands of valuable primates are kept for eventual use in medical experiments, but Conlee knows it is not the first breach at the location run by Alpha Genesis.