Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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Take Action Tuesday: CR Fashion Book features young chimpanzee, Bently

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CR Fashion Book has a new issue set to hit stands on Thursday with a big spread featuring Bently, an infant chimpanzee. Bently is owned by Mike Casey, who you might remember was put in front of county commissioners in Las Vegas because he lacked a permit to house his chimpanzees. He has a record of abusing his chimps, punching them, hitting them with a rod, and throwing hot water in their face. Casey also was responsible for breeding Travis, who as an adult escaped and mauled a Connecticut woman in 2009.

In their post about Bently’s upcoming appearance, CR Fashion Book also boasts that Bently’s brother Kenzy was the star of the Speed Racer movie, which actually got an unacceptable rating from the American Humane Association due on-set abuse.

Bently, Kenzy, and others like them deserve to be in a sanctuary where they can receive lifetime quality care. By featuring Bently in their magazine alongside humans, CR Fashion Book is perpetuating the pubic misunderstanding of chimpanzee nature.

Bently in his feature in CR Fashion Book magazine
Bently in his feature in CR Fashion Book magazine

Please send a polite letter to CR Fashion Book and ask them to remove the spread from the issue before sending it to stands on Thursday, and ask them to pledge to never use primates in future publications. Your letters make a difference – just earlier this year, Great Clips pulled a commercial featuring a young chimpanzee after they heard from concerned advocates like you.

You may send your letter to the editor-in-chief, Carine Roitfeld at [email protected]

You may also submit your comments to their Facebook page, or comment on this picture they posted from “behind-the-scenes” of the shoot.

Sample Brief Facebook Comment:

Bently the young chimpanzee should not be used in this way. His trainer has a history of abuse! Chimpanzees bred for the pet and entertainment industry eventually become big and strong and it is within their nature to be aggressive. Bently and other chimpanzees simply do not belong with humans, and your magazine spread is suggesting otherwise. Please remove the spread and pledge to never use primates in future publications!

Sample Letter to the Editor-in-Chief:

Dear Ms. Roitfeld:

I was shocked and disappointed to hear that CR Fashion Book is planning to feature Bently, a young chimpanzee. You should know that chimpanzees used in entertainment are torn away from their mothers as infants, often repeatedly beaten during training, and then discarded when they become too strong to be managed. Bently’s trainer has a history of abuse.

Featuring Bently alongside humans sends the message that these amazing beings are simply props. Surely you are aware that chimpanzees are endangered species in critical need of protection? You are exploiting chimpanzees for your own profits and this is an unacceptable business practice.

Please make the compassionate decision to remove the chimpanzee spread from your magazine, and consider making a pledge to never use primates in future publications. Thank you for your consideration of my comments on this urgent matter.

Sincerely,
[Your name here]
[Your city & state]

If you send a e-mail to CR Fashion Book, please remember to BCC Eyes on Apes at [email protected] for tracking purposes. Thank you!

Pomegranates + show some love!

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I can’t believe it’s already almost half-way through February! That means Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and we have a super spiffy card you can send to your special someone. Just make a donation in honor of your Valentine before noon tomorrow and they’ll get a nice “It’s Good to Be Loved” card. (Check out this morning’s newsletter for more info).

Here’s some pictures of the chimps enjoying a pomegranate forage the other day:

Negra:

web Negra eat pomegranate dinner forage greenhouse GH IMG_3151

Foxie:

web Foxie eat pomegranate dinner forage greenhouse GH IMG_3134

Annie:

web Annie eat pomegranate dinner forage greenhouse GH IMG_3140

Exercise

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Now that the snow has melted and the sun has returned, the chimpanzees have been really enjoying being outside on Young’s Hill.  This morning we witnessed an impressive burst of activity.  I can imagine how good it must feel to them to be able to stretch their legs.

Food service

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At CSNW, we follow the philosophy that the chimpanzees are in captivity not by choice, and we see it as our duty to let them live their lives out in the best possible way. Essentially, we see ourselves as servants. We clean their enclosures, we serve them their meals, and we play games that cater to what they like best. For instance, I heard Sarah had a box with trolls in it on her head the other day. Anything to make Foxie laugh! And last week, I heard that JB wore some cowgirl boots for Jamie.

On Monday I posted a photo of Jackie serving dinner to the chimps on our Facebook page. It made me realize that we don’t really post about their normal food service—when we post about food it is typically because of a big fun forage. Forages are more similar to how chimps would find food if they were in Africa, but we don’t do a forage for every meal mainly because we want to make sure everyone is getting enough food. Since they aren’t in the wild and aren’t able to continually forage, they depend completely on us to make sure they get their yummy fruits and veggies. Sometimes we make a prepared cooked dish, like oatmeal, rice, or pancakes. They love prepared meals but they are perfectly happy with just fresh produce which is the healthiest option anyway, so that is usually what they get.

For breakfast, we serve a fruit smoothie with ingredients that change daily but always include protein powder. We cut up a couple different fruits and also have a bowl full of nuts as an appetizer. They also get multi-vitamins, probiotics, and fiber at breakfast. Lunch is fresh veggies—usually about 3 or 4 veggies each. Dinner is either a prepared meal accompanied by a fruit and/or veggie, or more often just fresh produce. I like to do a mix of fruit and veggies at dinner, but it doesn’t really matter too much. We cut all the produce into pieces that fit nicely through the caging, and the chimps usually take the pieces to their hands or straight to their mouth. Smoothie and other drinks are served by pouring from a cup straight to their mouth. (This video shows a little bit of the breakfast routine.)

Below are some pictures of dinner tonight.

Negra getting pear to her mouth:

web caregiver debbie serve pear negra GH_MG_0860

 

Annie getting pear to her hand:

web caregiver debbie serve pear annie GH_MG_0866

 

Jamie getting orange to her mouth:

web caregiver debbie serve orange jamie GH_MG_0875

 

Missy getting onion to her hand:

web caregiver debbie serve onion missy GH_MG_0857

 

Jamie getting banana to her mouth (and Missy enjoying hers in the background):

web caregiver debbie serve banana jamie GH_MG_0855

 

Foxie getting onion to her mouth:

web caregiver debbie serve foxie pear GH_MG_0880