UPDATE: They have agreed to pull the segment! Good work everyone! There is reportedly going to be a baby chimp on Dancing with the Stars tonight – predicting the winner of the show. Please take a moment to write to Conrad Green, the executive producer, and ask him politely to reconsider this plan. Click here for some talking points.
Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
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Thank you for the information Sarah. My letter has been sent.
Thank you, Sarah! I’ve sent my letter too, and I won’t be watching this show.
I sent my letter and received a long thoughtful reply from Mr. Green with an explanation and that given the info I included he was pulling the segment. I’m sending that the “info” email address for the sanctuary. I didn’t want to paste it here in case that’s not cool. If the sanctuary team thinks it’s ok to post the reply, they can do it.
hoot,
-Pat
Well done Pat and everyone and credit to him for responding.
Thanks everyone! Here’s the reply Pat (and a bunch of you!) got:
Dear Pat
Thank you for your e-mail. We decided to use the chimpanzee for a package today and taped the package last week. While I didn?t personally attend the shoot, I?m assured that throughout the shoot the chimpanzee seemed happy and well-treated. We have followed the network?s broadcast standards guidelines in the setting up of this shoot and the process was overseen by the American Humane Association. We really have tried everything we can to ensure that
we did this the right way and would never have proceeded if we thought that the animal was in distress or being ill-treated.
However, I wasn?t aware of the information you have kindly provided about the way that chimpanzees are sometimes treated when trained for entertainment purposes. While I have no reason to believe that the chimp we used was treated in this way I do appreciate your point that showing a chimpanzee on our show may indirectly lead to other chimpanzees being ill-treated in the future. If I had been aware of the information you outlined below I wouldn?t have proceeded with the shoot in the first place, so I?ve decided on balance to re-cut the package we use in tonight?s show to remove any footage of the chimpanzee. While I can?t undo the fact that we did shoot with a chimpanzee I will be sure we don?t do this again in the future.
I hope this allays your concerns and I appreciate you getting in touch with me. We would never intentionally harm an animal in the process of making our show, and I hope you can continue to enjoy Dancing With the Stars in the future. I may send this e-mail to other people who have objected to the use of a chimpanzee on the show… I hope you don?t mind. I?m rather pressed for time today and can?t craft an individual response to everyone!
Yours sincerely
Conrad Green
Executive Producer
Dancing With the Stars
Wow, that shows the power of educating people about what really happens to showbiz animals.
I think Conrad’s letter is a very good response too – you can tell he really thought about this issue when presented with the letters and information.
Now we need to send emails to Mr. Green thanking him for making the responsible decision.
anyone have the correct email address handy?
His e-mail address is [email protected]. I received the same e-mail and have just sent off my ‘thank you’ to Mr. Green. I was very impressed at his quick reply and am so happy that he made the right choice. 🙂
Mr Green, Thanks you for right decision. From the Cheeta primate sanctuary. Regards, Dan & Cheeta
Brava, Sarah! That’s how it’s done.
My thank you just left the computer. I added a note about the Humane Society not having any control over before and after.
Well done everyone!!
I did write immediately and saw that they used a human child to do the work of the chimp. I specifically refrerrenced not using either but honestly I feel better when they “used” the child. 🙂
Education really works! It’s great to know there are people out there that will do the right thing. Kudos to Mr. Green!
I also sent a thank you email to Mr. Green. I don’t expect a reply but just wanted him to hear my thanks. Way to go, Pat, to get such a thoughtful response!
~j