Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Archives for April 2010

Learn Pet First Aid, help the Cle Elum Seven

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Volunteer Stephanie Perciful’s husband Tim has a cool opportunity for you. Tim is a certified instructor through the American Safety & Health Institute (endorsed by the ASPCA) to teach Pet First Aid. He’s been teaching this class for a couple of years and has a ton of experience in the field.

He and Stephanie are offering a pet first aid class on May 25th with all of the proceeds going to the sanctuary’s 2nd Anniversary Fundraising.

This invaluable class teaches, through demonstrations and hands-on training:

– How to restrain a sick or injured animal.
– How to check a pulse on a dog or cat.
– Pet CPR
– Bandaging & Splinting
– Various common pet illnesses or conditions.
– What to do in poison emergencies.
– What to put in a pet first aid kit & pet disaster kit.
– Disaster preparedness for your pet.
– And more

The class is intended for anyone who is interested in learning how to care for their pet during an emergency.

Date: Sunday, May 23, 2010 (corrected date)
Time: 9am – 3pm
Location: King County Fire District #44 near Auburn & Black Diamond
Cost: $50 (100% of the proceeds go to the chimps!)

Because this class is hands-on, space is very limited, so email [email protected] today to reserve your place. And be sure to share with others who may be interested.  Download the flyer by clicking here: pfaChimpFlyer-1. And spread far and wide by inviting your friends on Facebook.

Spring!

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Warm weather has finally arrived. Yesterday J.B. removed one wall of the greenhouse panels.

Negra was ready

Negra spent yesterday and today in her spot enjoying the view

While we enjoyed the view of Negra with the direct sunlight on her face

She also spent some time in her favorite pose, taking a nap

Doesn’t this close up of Negra just compel you to contribute (and tell all of your friends to donate) to the 2nd Anniversary Fundraising to celebrate Negra’s birthday and 2 years in sanctuary?

Thank you to everyone who is working hard to give Negra and all of the Cle Elum Seven this second chance on life at the sanctuary.

Guidelines for Gifts

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The chimps have such a wonderful family of supporters. Every week, we receive packages of food and enrichment from people all across the country. We rely on these gifts to keep the cupboards stocked and the enrichment bins full, which in turn helps keep the chimps happy. To ensure that we are able to use all of your generous donations, I’d like to share our health and safety guidelines for food and enrichment.

If you follow the blog, you know that we serve a wide variety of food to the chimps. But for their health and safety, we follow these food rules:

  • No added sugar – We limit the sugar in the chimps’ diet to sugar from natural sources such as whole fruit. Captive chimpanzees are at significant risk for diet-related illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. We’ve found that with enough variety, chimpanzees will continue to get excited about healthy food, so we’re confident that they don’t feel deprived. When we do give foods that are sweetened, they’re generally used to deliver medication (Gatorade is a favorite). If you do send food, check the ingredients label – you’d be amazed at the things they add sugar to (like dried fruit! Why?).
  • No salt – There is a relationship between sodium and heart disease in humans, and the same is thought to hold true for chimpanzees. Therefore, to be on the safe side, we limit the amount of salt in their diet.
  • No mangoes – Mangoes are great for chimps in general, but we have reason to believe that Annie is allergic to them.
  • No meat, dairy, or eggs – The chimps at CSNW get plenty of protein from nuts, seeds, beans, and primate chow.
  • Limited processed food – The chimps do get treats like bread from time to time, but we try to stick to whole foods as much as possible.
  • Nothing prepared outside of the chimp house kitchen – Because we can never be 100% sure of the ingredients or the conditions in which foods are prepared, we don’t give the chimps any homemade foods (e.g. baked goods, trail mix, etc.).

Variety is just as important when it comes to enrichment. We try to give them a little bit of everything, but for their safety, we follow these guidelines:

  • No glass
  • No metal or sharp edges
  • No batteries or battery operated toys
  • No soft/flexible rubber, latex, soft/thin plastic, or styrofoam – Some captive chimpanzees have an unfortunate habit of chewing on inappropriate materials. This behavior can lead to a bowel obstruction if the material is swallowed. So to be safe, we don’t give out any of these materials.
  • No small beads or beans in stuffed toys
  • Art supplies must be labeled as “nontoxic”

If you have any questions about an item that you would like to donate, please feel free to ask. Thanks so much for your support – and keep those donations coming! As you can see from the blog, the chimps’ lives are enriched each day by your generous gifts.

Our creative supporters

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We are 1/3 of the way to reaching our ultimate fundraising goal of $45,000 by June 13. We can do this! I wanted to share a few ways that supporters are helping to raise funds.

Margaret Parkison: You may know Margaret from her painting of “Negra in the Sun” which was featured in the Celebrate the Seven auction last year.

Margaret has set up a donation page through Firstgiving and is giving away cards with a print of one of the paintings she has done of the Cle Elum Seven for every $30 donation.  You can find all of her work on her website. Margaret also donates 10% of the profits of the sale of any of her paintings of the Cle Elum Seven to the sanctuary, so consider that too when you’re browsing her site!

Catherine Mollyneaux just yesterday set up an Etsy shop with proceeds of her unique wildlife cards to go to the sanctuary.

Here’s the description of her work: hand embroidered  with the best quality Sulky & DMC threads. The animal decals are Single Decoupage, 2D Iris Decoupage and some 3D Decoupage. Each card is articulately finished with tissue/vellum paper inside and comes with a matching envelope

Visit her shop to learn more about these beautiful cards and to purchase.

Tamela. You may also remember Tamela’s work from her necklace “Let Freedom Swing,” featured in the Celebrate the Seven auction last year.

Tamela has set up her own Etsy shop and is featuring an array of her handmade jewelry and other items. All net proceeds on her chimpanzee items  until the end of June will be donated to the sanctuary. She’s already raised over $400!

Tamela is adding new items regularly and people are snatching them up, so be sure to visit her shop frequently!