Following in the footsteps of Costco, the Target supermarket chain has withdrawn from its stores a coconut milk associated withl forced labor of monkeys.
according to the New York Post, The animal organization PETA has been pushing major supermarket chains to stop selling coconut milk from Thai company Chaokoh after more than a year of research which linked her to the use of chained monkeys for the collection of coconuts. More than 26,000 stores have withdrawn the product, including Costco, Wegmans, Food Lion, Stop & Shop y Goal.
“By leaving Chaokoh, Target joins thousands of stores that refuse to benefit from the misery of chained monkeys,” PETA executive vice president Tracy Reiman said in a statement. “PETA exhibits have confirmed that Thai coconut growers are exploiting monkeys and lying about it, so there is no excuse for no grocery store keep Chaokoh on your shelves”.
In accordance with MAP, the Thai coconut industry (included Chaokoh), the Food Processors Association of Thailand and the Thailand’s ambassador to the United States have been deceiving brands and to consumers about use of monkeys for these forced labor. MAP Asia he assures than the macaques are still being exploited on many farms and that “monkey schools” for coconut harvesting continue in operation.
A series of videos published by the association reveals that the young monkeys they are chained, trained in such a way abusive and forced to climb trees all day to collect the coconuts that then they are used to make milk, meat, flour, oil and other fruit products:
Many monkeys, usually southern pig-tailed macaques, are illegally abducted from their families and homes when they are only babies.. They wear them rigid metal necklaces and have them chained or tied for periods prolonged.
When they are forced to harvest coconuts, they are denied the freedom of movement, socializing with others or doing whatever which is significant to them. These smart primates they go crazy slowly. Driven to despair, they walk from side to side and in non-stop circles in the barren dirt spaces full of rubbish where they are chained.
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Target explained in the New York Post he decided remove products from Chaokoh in November last year. “We believe in human treatment animals and we expect those who do business with us to do the same, “a spokesman for the chain wrote. of supermarkets in a statement. “We take the claims seriously against Chaokoh, and since they could not refute enough concerns raised, we made the decision to remove your product from our assortment. “