Forced Monkey Labor
By 
While we should all be at least somewhat skeptical of claims coming from PETA, this seems to be real and…..my god.
Target has joined several other retailers in dropping a Thailand-based company’s coconut products following allegations that its farms use monkey labor.
Target will no longer carry Chaokoh coconut products in its stores amid allegations that its manufacturer has continued to use monkey labor at its coconut farms in Thailand, Target confirmed to NBC News Tuesday. The retailer said it pulled the product from its shelves last year, but the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals recently publicized the decision.
“We believe in the humane treatment of animals and expect those who do business with us to do the same,” Target said. “We take seriously the claims made against Chaokoh, and given they were unable to sufficiently address the concerns raised, we made the decision to remove their product from our assortment in November 2020.”
PETA alleged last year that its investigators found young monkeys were chained and trained to pick coconuts at multiple farms in the South Asian country, including farms used to produce Chaokoh coconut milk and water. Investigators found conditions unchanged more than a year later on subsequent visits, PETA said in an update earlier this month, in which it announced that Target had dropped the brand.
“The terrified young monkeys are forced to perform frustrating and difficult tasks, such as twisting heavy coconuts until they fall off the trees from a great height,” PETA alleged on its website. “An investigator learned that if monkeys try to defend themselves, their canine teeth may be pulled.”
I can’t say this is surprising of course. It’s not really like the meat we choose to eat is treated any better than these monkeys. We as humans are barely cognizant of human rights as a standard of behavior. Animal rights are a whole other step. Whether it is circuses or the treatment of elephants as laborers or puppy mills, humans tend to treat animals horribly. Add to this a labor system that is already treating humans as poorly as possible and, well, it’s not surprising that enslaving monkeys would be seen as a great idea if possible. Even less resistance than migratory human labor.
Still, this is a horrible thing to contemplate.