Thursday, October 23, 2014 10:51am ET by  
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One Direction receive letter from animal rights charity over new video

An animal rights charity has sent a letter to One Direction after pictures emerged of the boyband using a chimp on a video shoot.

The boyband are due to release their 'Steal My Girl' promo clip on Friday (October 24) and photos released today (October 23) from the shoot show the lads working with a chimp.

The animal is seen wearing a chain leash during takes and this, in addition to the use of the chimp, has prompted criticism.

Animal rights charity Wild Futures have now penned a letter to educate the group on the dangers and ethics of using animals like chimps for work.

They wrote: "We are very saddened to see that you are using a wild animal, a chimpanzee, in one of your promotional videos. Wild Futures is very concerned about the use of wild animal 'actors' and in particular the use of primates. We are a primate welfare and conservation charity that supports projects around the world, works with governments to protect primates and we have a sanctuary in the UK for victims of the pet and entertainment industries.

"We know that you would not deliberately abuse any animal, but believe that these situations arise because of a lack of understanding or knowledge of the reality for primate 'actors'."

They continued: "Wild animals used as actors may appear to be well-treated on set or in training (though there is plenty evidence that this is not always the case), but our concern is that the very process employed to make these animals tractable and safe to work with involves depriving them of their natural 'identity', opportunities for natural behaviour and is detrimental to the animals’ health and welfare. Young primates, for example, are taken away from their mothers before weaning age, which can cause lasting psychological damage, and adversely affect physical development of the young monkey’s brain."

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Watch One Direction tease their video below: