One of our missions at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest is to advocate for apes everywhere, which is why we developed the program Eyes on Apes. The idea is to have one centralized area for people to learn about issues that apes face both in captivity and in the wild, while providing tools for you to take action.
There’s a lot of great information on the pages for each of the issues (entertainment, pets, roadside zoos, biomedical research, and free-living issues in Africa and Asia).
One thing we just added were some pages on individual trainers in the entertainment industry. This is a really nice resource for people to have when you hear about a chimp in a commercial or movie and are curious what it is like for them with their trainers. Each page lists facts about the trainers, any relevant USDA citations, and links to our action alerts about productions these trainers were involved in.
Please share this site with your friends, and help raise awareness for apes everywhere! You can ask them to sign up for our Take Action list in order to get action alerts and help make a difference for apes everywhere.
Take a look through all the pages—there’s been some makeovers throughout the site, like this informational map showing the current vs. historical population of African apes:
And, since this was a little bit of a wordy post, I thought I’d throw in a picture of Negra from this morning’s breakfast forage on Young’s Hill:
Thank you Debbie for always being so helpful! Eyes On Apes is an excellent resource and I refer to it often when I personalize my letters. Like your new updates! Eyes On Apes and the HSUS (www.humanesociety.org/issues/chimpanzee_research) are invaluable resources for staying up-to-date on current issues or for education and discovery.
But seeing the photo of Negra on the hill teaches us more than all the research about the importance of sanctuary for every chimpanzee. A picture IS worth a thousand words. I will do my best to be the voice for Negra, Annie, Missy, Jody, Foxie, Burrito and Jamie. Thank you for holding my hand along the way.
Thank you Kathleen, this was such a wonderful comment and reinforces why it is we do what we do, and just shows how our supporters are so amazing and really understand what it’s all about! 😀
Love you Negra !
On the same note of using Eyes On Apes as a smart resource to gather your facts for letters or discussions, AFF posted this comment and link on their FB page today. Good advice for all!
“Is there something – a policy, law, or an opinion – that you’re working to change? Check out these four rules of conduct to help create a more receptive audience for your argument. Advocates can advance the discussion and create real change with this approach”:
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/03/28/daniel-dennett-rapoport-rules-criticism/
; )
I was looking at the notes on individual trainers in the entertainment industry and am quite horrified by what they do. But how is it all going to be prevented….is there any authority which can stop these people from doing their business and from abusing the chimpanzees? If it is proven that the trainers abuse the chimpanzees, and there seems to be evidence of this, how come the chimpanzees are not rescued and taken to a proper sanctuary. Why are these abusers able to carry on?!
That is a great question, Bridget. Unfortunately it’s completely legal in some states, and we really need to put public pressure on the decision makers in order to make a difference for these chimps. The best way we’ve discovered to do this is to put pressure on the companies and productions that lease the apes. If the trainers don’t have any business, they will stop doing what they are doing. It also helps to simply raise more awareness, which is our goal by creating the trainer information pages. Share them with your friends and on social media so others can learn the truth behind what goes on, and will be less likely to support media that exploits chimps.