This morning, we awoke to another power outage – the fourth one this winter.
Losing power is never fun when you’re caring for chimps. In the winter, we have to set up a portable generator outside and connect it to a backup heater to keep the chimp house warm. In the summer, we risk losing hundreds of dollars worth of produce if we can’t keep our refrigerators running. And after the Taylor Bridge Fire, when we had no power for days, we were left with no lights, no laundry, no computers, and worst of all, a struggle to keep essential phones and radios charged during an emergency.
I’m happy to say that this morning was probably the last time we’ll ever have to deal with the effects a power outage. Thanks to a grant from the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) Sanctuary Fund and a generous donation from supporters Karen and Don Young, we will soon be installing a 20-kilowatt standby generator. This generator will come on automatically within seconds anytime the power goes out and will run everything in the chimp house: heat, lights, chimp doors, refrigerators, and the electric fences.
Sometimes I wish the chimps could see all the things that people and organizations from all over the world do to help care for them. But in this case, the whole point of the gift is that they won’t ever know anything was wrong in the first place. And that means Negra won’t have to lose a single minute of sleep over it.
So our sincere thanks go out to NAVS, and to Karen and Don, for giving our staff some peace of mind, and for giving Negra some peace and quiet.
Yay!! Thank you NAVS and Karen and Don. Karen and Don are the BEST!!
Hooray! 3 cheers for incredible generosity! Especially if it meAns Negra’s nap goes uninterrupted 🙂
Great news, for the chimps and for reducing staff worries!
Thank goodness this situation has been resolved! We all have lived through power outages and have lived by candle light, sometimes for days. Can you imagine a surgery taking place in the new vet clinic and all of a sudden, having no power? There are meds that require refrigeration and all of the food. However, just the stress of no lights on chimps and people is enough to warrent this purchase. The generator willl test itself once a week so everyone at the sanctuary will know it is working. It will kick in within a minute of a power outage. Thanks to NEAVS for their generous hearts and open pocket book to help CSNW solve this problem.
Karen we have the same get set at our house not far from the Sanctuary. It is a very nice set up and works like a champ when we need it.
Thank you, and Don for helping with this
project.
That’s wonderful! Negra looks so cozy and peaceful….thanks to such amazing generosity from her admirers!