前华盛顿大学灵长类动物中心科学家Lisa Jones-Engel于2019年因伦理觉醒辞去动物实验工作，转而加入动物权益组织PETA[1]。由前电视节目主持人Tony Jones执导的纪录片《Sentient》记录了这一转变过程，并揭示了全球动物实验的规模与伦理问题[1]。
根据纪录片披露，来自亚洲繁殖场的约40,000只猕猴每年被运往美国和英国的实验室用于药物测试[1]。尽管猕猴与人类共享约96%的DNA[1]，但仅约5%在动物身上测试的药物对人类有效[1]。在新冠疫情期间，长尾猕猴的交易价格一度高达60,000美元[1]。
纪录片《Sentient》将于8月11日和13日在墨尔本国际电影节放映，8月27日全国上映[1]。
A documentary titled Sentient chronicles the ethical transformation of Lisa Jones-Engel, a prominent primatologist who abandoned her career in animal research to join animal advocacy efforts [1]. Jones-Engel, formerly a distinguished scientist at the University of Washington's primate center, resigned from her position in 2019 after experiencing a moral awakening regarding the treatment of laboratory animals [1]. Directed by former television host Tony Jones, the film exposes the systematic use of approximately 40,000 macaques annually transported from Asian breeding facilities to laboratories in the United States and United Kingdom for drug testing [1].
The documentary raises critical questions about the efficacy and ethics of animal testing. Only about 5 percent of drugs tested successfully on animals prove effective for human use [1]. Macaques share approximately 96 percent of their DNA with humans, yet continue to be subjected to invasive pharmaceutical experiments [1]. The documentary also documents the extreme market value these animals command, noting that long-tailed macaques reached prices as high as $60,000 during the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. Sentient will premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 11 and 13, followed by a nationwide theatrical release on August 27 [1].