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Animal rights have been a topic of discussion for a substantial amount of time. The debate as to what rights animals truly have has been an essential issue for many animal rights organizations. One notable organization that has been at the forefront of these issues is . Its main goal is to as a whole.
Recently Thailand has been under fire for reports of their alleged mistreatment of animals. Modern-day began to be recognized in the 1970s. Consequently, this explains the outrage seen by companies mentioned later in this paragraph. In November of 2022, it was revealed that Thailand has been using to aid in a large portion of their production of coconut milk. It was also stated that when not undergoing physical labor, the tethered and confined to cages. The animal labor mentioned mainly involves the . Many estimates state numbers as high as being forced to retrieve coconuts. This class of mammals is currently a with its population decreasing.
In , coconut milk is considered a staple in many traditional dishes, mainly due to there being very few substitutes. Thailand ranks tenth in despite having of the population as the number one producer, Indonesia. On top of this, Thailand brings in over , exporting coconut milk. The majority of the exported milk goes to the United States, India, and Vietnam.
Due to the allegations, major brands such as , , and many others of Chaokoh coconut milk, a Thai brand. A notable company based out of Germany, , has decided to cease its purchase of coconut milk from Thailand entirely; the company generates close to s year, making this a substantial loss for Thailand. Much of this backlash is that monkeys have been forced into manual labor involving climbing and picking coconuts from trees. , a non-profit that runs a center for wild animals found in captivity, estimated that Thai farmers are keeping anywhere from ; about of these monkeys are being used for labor. In 2021, Thailand exported of coconut milk. Much of this production is believed to be directly related to the alleged forced monkey labor. Fifty-seven coconut farming operations were visited throughout Thailand, and , all of them contained some extent of monkey labor. Adding to this, that young monkeys are being abducted from their families to help with coconut harvesting.
However, the has pushed back on the reports being made by PETA. Thailand has stated that using monkeys to harvest is a in their industry. Instead, the nation claims to rely more on to harvest coconuts and produce the heavily sought-after products. Many investigations are still taking place by PETA and similar organizations to of the animal labor that has been taking place over the last few years. Sooner or later, the truth will come out in totality, but until then, we must wait and see as new information continues to emerge.
Photo Credits: MEGP Team Lead - Max Schneider
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