Lab monkeys running wild through rural Mississippi yards left one mother facing an impossible choice.
The federal government's reckless handling of dangerous research animals put families in jeopardy.
And a Mississippi mom shut down critics after she made this split-second decision to stop a dangerous research monkey from getting to her family.
When Jessica Bond Ferguson's 16-year-old son woke her up early Sunday morning with shocking news, she didn't hesitate.
A monkey was running through their yard near Heidelberg, Mississippi – and Bond Ferguson knew exactly what authorities had told residents about these escaped lab animals.¹
She grabbed her firearm and her cellphone before stepping outside to confront the Rhesus monkey standing about 60 feet from her home.²
"I did what any other mother would do to protect her children," Bond Ferguson, a 35-year-old mother of five children, told reporters.³
She fired twice at the 16-pound primate as it stood staring at her, and the animal finally fell after the second shot.⁴
21 research monkeys broke free from overturned truck
The chaos began October 28 when a truck hauling 21 research monkeys from Tulane University's biomedical center overturned on Interstate 59 near Heidelberg.⁵
Video footage showed the primates crawling through tall grass alongside wooden crates stamped "LIVE ANIMALS" scattered across the crash scene.⁶
Authorities initially warned residents the 40-pound monkeys carried dangerous diseases including COVID-19, hepatitis, and herpes – information the truck driver provided to sheriff's deputies.⁷
The Jasper County Sheriff's Office killed five of the escaped monkeys on sight based on warnings from the truck's occupants about the animals being aggressive and requiring personal protective equipment to handle.⁸
Tulane University later confirmed the monkeys were pathogen-free and had recently received veterinary checkups.⁹
But that correction came too late for the monkeys already killed – and too late to ease fears of rural families living near the crash site.
Mother refused to take chances with children's safety
Bond Ferguson called police before confronting the monkey but was told only to keep an eye on the animal.¹⁰
She couldn't accept that answer because another family with children lived nearby, and the thought of the monkey escaping to attack someone else's kids weighed on her conscience.¹¹
"If it attacked somebody's kid, and I could have stopped it, that would be a lot on me," Bond Ferguson explained to reporters.¹²
"It's kind of scary and dangerous that they are running around, and people have kids playing in their yards," she added.¹³
The professional chef's decision wasn't made lightly – she's a mother who understood the stakes when federal incompetence brings dangerous research animals into rural neighborhoods where families should be safe.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks took possession of the dead monkey, though officials refused to provide additional details about the incident.¹⁴
Two monkeys remained on the loose as of Monday, with authorities still warning residents about their aggressive nature.¹⁵
Taxpayer-funded primate facility has history of deadly accidents
Tulane's National Biomedical Research Center receives $35 million annually from the National Institutes of Health to breed and experiment on thousands of primates.¹⁶
The facility just changed its name from "Tulane National Primate Research Center" last month – likely trying to soften its image amid growing public backlash against taxpayer-funded animal testing.¹⁷
White Coat Waste Project, a nonprofit fighting government-funded animal experiments, has been working with Congress to defund the Tulane facility for years because of its "sordid history of wasteful Fauci-funded monkey business, secretive spending, and dangerous lab accidents."¹⁸
In 2015, three rhesus macaques were euthanized after a "biosecurity breach" when staff failed to follow infection control procedures.¹⁹
Federal inspectors found in 2018 that staff frequently entered labs studying deadly pathogens without proper protective equipment, potentially exposing themselves and others to bacteria like those causing anthrax and botulism.²⁰
The facility's record includes multiple escape incidents – 24 monkeys escaped in 1998, 50 got out in 2005 (killing four), and 13 baboons died in 2007 after being severely crowded during a transfer between holding areas.²¹
Washington bureaucrats put Mississippi families at risk
Bond Ferguson's split-second decision to protect her family exposed how federal research programs shift the burden of their incompetence onto average Americans.
Tulane received nearly $130 million from NIH in 2022 alone, including more than $10 million just for basic primate center operations.²²
That's $130 million in taxpayer dollars funding a facility with a documented history of deadly accidents, escaped animals, and staff failing to follow basic safety protocols.
The 21 monkeys weren't even owned by Tulane – the university was just breeding them to ship off to other research labs while collecting federal grant money.²³
When things went wrong and the transport truck overturned, rural Mississippi families paid the price for Washington's reckless animal research programs.
Bond Ferguson shouldn't have been forced to grab her firearm to protect her children from escaped research monkeys running through her yard because federal bureaucrats couldn't safely transport animals they're experimenting on with taxpayer dollars.
But she made the right call when it counted – putting her kids' safety first while Washington continues burning through millions funding Fauci-connected labs that can't even keep dangerous animals contained.
¹ Associated Press, "Mississippi woman kills escaped monkey, fearing for her children's safety," CBS News, November 3, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Ibid.
⁷ Fox News, "Escaped monkeys from Mississippi truck crash puts spotlight on NIH-funded Tulane lab," November 1, 2025.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Associated Press, "Mississippi woman kills escaped monkey, fearing for her children's safety," CBS News, November 3, 2025.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Fox News, "Mississippi mother says she shot escaped monkey to protect children," November 3, 2025.
¹⁶ Fox News, "Escaped monkeys from Mississippi truck crash puts spotlight on NIH-funded Tulane lab," November 1, 2025.
¹⁷ Tulane University News, "Tulane National Primate Research Center adopts new name reflecting broader mission," 2025.
¹⁸ The Gateway Pundit, "Fauci-Funded Tulane Primate Lab at Center of Mississippi Crash," October 29, 2025.
¹⁹ PETA, "Check Out the Obscene Federal Animal Welfare Violations at Tulane University," April 2, 2024.
²⁰ The Gateway Pundit, "Fauci-Funded Tulane Primate Lab at Center of Mississippi Crash," October 29, 2025.
²¹ PETA, "Tulane National Primate Research Center at Tulane University," October 1, 2024.
²² Ibid.
²³ Fox News, "Escaped monkeys from Mississippi truck crash puts spotlight on NIH-funded Tulane lab," November 1, 2025.
