Pamela Anderson has accused one of India's most prestigious research centres of animal cruelty.
The former Baywatch star has written to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) asking them to ban testing on monkeys.
She wrote a letter to director R.C. Deka after watching a video allegedly exposing animal cruelty at the New Delhi centre.
Ban monkey testing: Pamela Anderson, pictured in India last November, has written to R.C. Deka, director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences
'It broke my heart to see the suffering that is documented in the enclosed video', wrote Anderson, in a letter sent on behalf of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
'But the animals suffering behind closed doors at AIIMS must endure this nightmare every day.'
In the letter, Anderson said dozens of monkeys are kept in 'cramped, barren, and rusty cages for years on end,' and appealed for the release of one monkey she said had been suffering at the research facility for nearly 20 years.
The former Baywatch star said she cried when she watched a video of caged monkeys at the centre (file photograph of monkey testing)
AIIMS officials said they had not received the letter and added the facility is 'state of the art' and insisted the animals are kept in upgraded and humane conditions.
'Firstly, we are yet to ascertain the authenticity of the letter (by Pamela Anderson).
'But considering that it has been directed by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), we promise that the animals are kept in much better and upgraded conditions at the hospital's laboratories,' AIIMS spokesperson Y.K. Gupta said.
Gupta added: 'There are 43 monkeys at the facility, and all of them are less than 10 years of age.'
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