Retire aging monkeys, Pamela Anderson urges AIIMS

NEW DELHI - International celebrity Pamela Anderson Saturday wrote a letter to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director N.C. Deka, asking him to free the aging monkeys at the premier health institute’s central facility.

Anderson sent the letter on behalf of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India after watching video footage taken secretly inside AIIMS.

“It broke my heart to see the suffering that is documented in the enclosed video. But the animals suffering behind closed doors at AIIMS must endure this nightmare every day,” the actress wrote.

“I was shocked to see that rabbits are forced to live in wire-floored cages; the sharp wire digs into their sensitive footpads and can cause their feet to become stuck,” she added.

In the letter, the former “Baywatch” star who recently also made a brief appearance at “Bigg Boss” pointed out that many of the monkeys at AIIMS have been languishing in cramped, rusty cages for more than a decade and that one monkey has been suffering in these conditions for nearly 20 years.

According to the legal framework, laboratories in India are required to rehabilitate animals after three years of biological use.

The video shows horrifying conditions under which the animals have been caged, including rabbits suffering from an infectious skin disease and rats with wounds being denied veterinary care.

“Please, won’t you at least agree to retire the animals who have been at AIIMS the longest to a sanctuary?” Anderson asked Deka in the letter.

PETA India demands the shifting of caged animals to a sanctuary and switch to modern, humane non-animal research and training methods.