Volkswagen faces a new wave of trouble as allegations of animal testing emerge
Originally reported over the weekend by the New York Times, Volkswagen is back in hot water thanks to new allegations of animal testing. Back in 2015 it was discovered that Volkswagen was cheating on emissions test to meet US environmental standards, now it appears as though emissions testing was done on crab-eating macaque monkeys in 2014. The alleged testing was done at a facility in New Mexico.
The European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector, which was funded by Volkswagen but since defunct, conducted the experiment. In the experiment, researchers locked 10 macaque monkeys in a room and subjected them to 4 hours of exhaust fumes being pumped from a Volkswagen Beetle. Meanwhile, in a similar set up, another group of monkeys were exposed to fumes from an older Ford pick-up truck. Both sets of monkeys were later anesthetized and examined to see how the fumes affected their bodies.
The results of the tests were never published, but the Times story has sparked criticism from experts who question what exactly Volkswagen hoped to accomplish.
"It's torturous and unjustified," said Kerry Bowman, bioethics professor at the University of Toronto, "and what they were trying to prove is not completely clear."
On Monday, the German government condemned the experiments and Volkswagen tried to distance itself from them, vowing to investigate the alleged claims.
"In the name of the whole board I emphatically disavow such practices," Volkswagen chair Hans Dieter Poetsch said. He then went onto to say that the tests must be "investigated completely and without reservation."