page_title: Steven A. Kandarian
section_title: Protests
hierarchical_section_title: Steven A. Kandarian / Life and career / Protests
caption_attribution_description: English: Animal rights activists hold a demonstration outside Kandarian's home on behalf of the 66 chimpanzees abandoned by the New York Blood center
context_page_description: Steven A. Kandarian was the president, chairman, and chief executive officer of MetLife. He became president and CEO on May 1, 2011, and chairman in January 2012 succeeding Robert Henrikson, who retired from those roles. Kandarian retired from MetLife on April 30, 2019 and was succeeded by Michel Khalaf.
context_section_description: In May 2016, Kandarian became the target of protests by animal rights activists angered at MetLife's partnership with the New York Blood Center (NYBC), which abandoned 66 lab chimpanzees with no food and water on islands in Liberia. The chimpanzees, who were used by NYBC in invasive medical experiments for over the course of three decades, have earned the organization an estimated $500 million in royalties. The protests, which have taken place at Kandarian's home in Summit, NJ, and at the MetLife building in NYC, were staged after activists' year-long attempts to meet with Kandarian and MetLife were rebuffed. World renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall has dismissed NYBC's claim that the Liberian government  should pay for the care of the chimps: "This seems irrelevant since NYBC was responsible for funding the acquisition of these chimpanzees, some of whom were taken from the wild after shooting their  mothers".
caption: Animal rights activists stage a demonstration at Kandarian's house on behalf of 66 Chimpanzees abandoned by the New York Blood Center.
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