Repost from: Animal Alliance of Canada 

‼️ YORK UNIVERSITY HAS BROKEN THEIR SILENCE‼️ Here's What They Said to Us. 

The CCAC has closed its review of York's primate lab without finding a single deviation. The university is using that finding to attempt to end the conversation.

Following over three months of consistent outreach and requests to meet with the university, on August 12, Animal Alliance of Canada finally received a letter from Amir Asif, Vice-President Research & Innovation at York University.

It states that the Canadian Council on Animal Care has completed its review of York's primate research program. In Asif's words: 

"the CCAC concluded that it did not find deviations from its policies and guidelines in the ethical use of animals in science at York University." 

And then, two paragraphs later: 

"we do not believe that a meeting with senior University leadership would be productive at this time."

Asif goes on to say "The University remains committed to conducting world-class research while upholding the highest standards of animal welfare and ethics"

Animal Alliance of Canada's position is that the highest standard in biomedical science today is innovative, human-relevant research. By that measure, what is happening in the Behavioural Sciences Building is not world-class. It is a methodology the rest of the field is actively working to leave behind.

Most Canadians reasonably assume there is a government agency inspecting research laboratories in this country. There isn't.

The CCAC is a non-profit body that writes Canada's national guidelines for animal-based science and certifies the institutions expected to follow them — York among them. It is not a regulator. Participation is voluntary, tied to eligibility for federal research funding through the granting councils. It has no statutory authority to compel compliance, levy penalties, seize animals, or shut a facility down.

Bento, Kenning, Magneto, Monkey Do, Hannah, Liesl, Mini-Sass, Olivia and Virginia remain at York University. Nothing about this outcome changes anything for them.

Real accountability will not come from the CCAC. It will come from public pressure and political action. 

We are calling for three urgent steps:

1. Pressure York University to end its use of nonhuman primates in invasive research and release the macaques currently in its care to a species-appropriate facilities.

2. Pressure the Ontario government to extend Bill 75's new protections for dogs and cats to nonhuman primates too, ending invasive medical research on them across the province.

3. Pressure the federal government to accelerate investment in non-animal research methods, including organ-on-chip systems, computational modelling, and human-relevant testing platforms that eliminate the need for primate models altogether. 

York University has told us, in writing, that it does not consider a meeting productive. It is entitled to that position. It is not entitled to have the matter end there.

Take action now:

 📄 Read York's letter in full in our recent news update — https://www.animalalliance.ca/york-university-breaks-silence/ 

✍️ Send our action email — https://www.animalalliance.ca/campaigns/end-primate-research-in-ontario/ 

🔗 Share this post

A CCAC assessment is not accountability. It is a procedural step that almost always ends in continued certification and continued suffering. York's letter is what that looks like, in the university's own words.

Release the York 9 Primates!