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Animal rights advocate PETA has urged supermarkets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region to ban the sale of coconut products from Thailand, citing claims of animal abuse by suppliers.
The organisation said on Monday it has “rushed letters” to Carrefour and LuLu Hypermarket, two of the major grocery chain operators in the UAE, warning that they may unintentionally be selling goods from Thailand made by companies whose supply chains use monkeys.
“PETA’s recent investigation into Thailand’s coconut industry revealed that suppliers to high-profile companies, whose products are exported around the world are using monkeys to collect coconuts,” the group said in a statement.
“Monkeys are curious, highly intelligent animals, but in the Thai coconut industry, they’re denied psychological stimulation, companionship, freedom, and everything else that would make their lives worth living, all so that they can be used to pick coconuts,” said Jason Baker, senior vice president of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The organization had raised similar claims earlier, prompting retailers in the UK to clear their shelves of coconut products from Thailand.
The government in Thailand had also brushed aside PETA’s allegations, citing that the use of monkey labour is “almost non-existent”, according to a Reuters report.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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