For Immediate Release: October 25, 2013
(Ocala, FL) — The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) is applauding a decision by Florida Park Service Director Donald Forgione not to grant permission for trappers to remove rhesus macaques from Silver Springs State Park for sale to laboratories. Director Forgione explained that the Florida Park Service is looking into alternative methods of reducing the monkey population at the park.
Monkeys were most recently trapped in early 2012 along the Silver River, as well as on Cross Florida Greenway properties along the Oklawaha River. ARFF is working to determine if the Office of Greenways and Trails will allow trapping on the Cross Florida Greenway in the coming months.
“We are very happy that Silver Springs State Park will once again be known for its natural beauty and outdoor activities, and not as a supplier of animals for cruel laboratory experimentation,” said ARFF Communications Director Don Anthony. “The Florida Park Service has set a compassionate example that the Office of Greenways and Trails should follow.”
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