The alleged use of forced monkey labor has led Costco to stop selling Thai-made coconut products.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has been tracking such animal abuse since 2019, while urging retailers to pull merchandise made from the bad actors to discourage the practice, USA Today reported.
“No kind shopper wants monkeys to be chained up and treated like coconut-picking machines,” PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement, according to the outlet.
“Costco made the right call to reject animal exploitation, and PETA is calling on holdouts like Kroger to follow suit.”
PETA’s investigation found chained-up monkeys can pick around 400 coconuts a day and are then stuffed in cages until their next shift, the outlet reported.
“Just because something is legal or accepted it doesn’t mean it’s OK,” said Kent Stein, PETA’s corporate responsibility officer.
Are wild baby monkeys the ones who were forced to pick coconuts for your coconut milk? https://t.co/SGBZmaCI5x pic.twitter.com/3t0fGeIGj2
— PETA (@peta) September 16, 2020