Current Events > Target won't sell Thai coconut milk after reports of forced monkey labor

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https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/target-wont-sell-thai-coconut-milk-after-probe-shows-product-made-by-forced-monkey-labor-report

Target will no longer sell coconut milk made by the Thai company Chaokoh after an investigation alleged the drink is tied to forced monkey labor, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced Monday.

By dropping Chaokoh, Target is joining thousands of stores that refuse to profit from chained monkeys misery, PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman wrote in a statement.

PETA exposs have confirmed that Thai coconut producers are exploiting monkeys and lying about it, so theres no excuse for any grocery store to keep Chaokoh on its shelves.

PETA, which has been tracking monkey exploitation in Thailand since 2019, conducted two undercover investigations that found primates are forced to pick coconuts all day with chains around their necks. The groups probe found cruelty to monkeys on every farm, at every monkey-training facility, and in every coconut-picking contest that used monkey labor.

When not being forced to pick coconuts or perform in circus-style shows for tourists, the animals were kept tethered, chained to old tires, or confined to cages barely larger than their bodies, PETA wrote in a news release.

Following PETAs investigations, the coconut industry claimed they changed their practice and were no longer using monkey labor but a second probe found it was still happening.

PETA Asias second investigation found producers still using monkey labor and industry insiders discussing how farms conceal this practice by simply hiding monkeys until auditors leave or by hiring contractors to bring in monkeys only during harvest time, PETA said.

Target told The Post they decided to pull the products in November last year.

We believe in the humane treatment of animals and expect those who do business with us to do the same, a spokesperson wrote in a statement.

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.

PETA has been lobbying major grocery chains to stop selling Chaokoh and so far, more than 26,000 stores, including Wegmans, Costco, Food Lion, Stop & Shop and now Target, have agreed to cut ties with the brand.

Meanwhile, Kroger, Albertsons and Publix are continuing the practice.

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Meanwhile, Nestle items will remain well-stocked >_>

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forced monkey labor is not funny

cuh posted...

Holy fuck thats awful

yea, it's one of those things I wouldn't have imagined had I not seen the article

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There's....monkey labor??

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AlisLandale posted...

Meanwhile, Nestle items will remain well-stocked >_>

That's something that's going to take a lot of work to fix.
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How are these unemployed monkeys going to make a living now?

Wait, PETA doing something right?
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GiftedACIII posted...

Wait, PETA doing something right?

You know the adage about the blind squirrel?

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now that is some monkey business

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NPR

Cannot say I believe --- "It is always relaxed, no shouting, no punishing," he says. "Every few trees the monkey hugs his owner,

because too idyllic.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/10/19/448960760/monkeys-pick-coconuts-in-thailand-are-they-abused-or-working-animals

but I am surprised monkeys can be forced to work. Who knew?

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it's awful but PETA is fucking scum. if they ever try to take my cats they'll get a fucking bullet to their heads

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cuh posted...

Ok so I dont meant to deflect here, but when I watched the video in the NPR site (), I had this thought, how is this different than humans using horses to get to places/ride in public? Is horse riding an awful practice too, or is there something about it that makes it morally/ethically different?

g0ldie posted...

When not being forced to pick coconuts or perform in circus-style shows for tourists, the animals were kept tethered, chained to old tires, or confined to cages barely larger than their bodies, PETA wrote in a news release.

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huh.. never in my life did I think I'd read the words "Forced Monkey Labor".

this world is pretty fucked up yo.

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And here I thought ape slaves were just something Jane Goodall had on The Simpsons. Huh.

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@DrizztLink I agree with you on that 100%, but to be fair a lot of people do keep their horses in stables that are pretty small. But I'm pretty sure they aren't kept there the whole time they're not being ridden.

idk, just my 2 cents. I don't know that much about horses or how they're kept.

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It does sound like a monkey-handler can only work one monkey at a time. Once the monkey is up in the tree, the handler is dependent on the monkey wanting to do what he/she wants it to do. There has to be a rapport.

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those monkeys need to unionize and demand 15 bananas per hour.

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This would never happen in the horsing business

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I hope Target stops selling Apple products too then.
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Good thing I don't buy from Target

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Perascamin posted...

There's....monkey labor??

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GiftedACIII posted...

Wait, PETA doing something right?

PETA has done plenty of similar things over the years.

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What is the out here? Free the monkeys, or is there a more humane way they can be treated?

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Now I'm just imagining monkeys wearing hard hats using bananas as hammers.
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As opposed to consensual monkey labor?

The monkeys have better living conditions than if they were in PETAs possession.

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Sansoldier posted...

What is the out here? Free the monkeys, or is there a more humane way they can be treated?

If it's PETA, I'm sure they would round up the monkeys, introduce them to a group of elementary school children as a way to educate them on monkeys like their social lives, intelligence, physical feats, etc...

Then brutally decapitate the monkeys in front of the children with rusty knives to also teach the kids on how animal abuse is wrong.

You know, standard PETA stuff.

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FL81 posted...

This would never happen in the horsing business

hah!

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Damn, that's a real Mr. Burns thing to do.

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