Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest
Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary
This is what greeted me when I arrived at the chimp house this morning:
For at least ten minutes, her concentration was so acute that she couldn’t be distracted. Jamie is so busy these days that it’s almost impossible to imagine how she occupied her time during her decades in laboratories with nothing to play with or explore. What a different world this must be for her!
So far the NIH has not budged on their plans to transfer 202 chimpanzees from the Alamogordo Primate Facility to the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research.
The chimpanzees have gotten some celebrity support recently, though – Gene Hackman wrote a letter to the head of NIH asking to halt this transfer. Check out this excerpt from his letter (it gave me chills in a good way):
“As you know, efforts to save the Alamogordo chimpanzee have drawn support from Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Tom Udall, and many other people around the state and across the country. I join them in urging you to fulfill the National Institutes of Health’s goal to ‘exemplify and promote the highest level of scientific integrity, public accountability, and social responsibility in the conduct of science’ by allowing these chimpanzees to live out their lives in the safety of a sanctuary.”
Read the full letter here: http://pcrm.org/resch/alamogordo/hackman.html
If you haven’t already, please contact the government about this issue. Your tax money is funding the laboratory housing and future experimentation on these chimpanzees.
Find out more ways you can help by following this blog for updates, as well as:
Animal Protection of New Mexico
Yesterday, August 2nd, was a Sponsor a Day in honor of Neil Welch who “loves the intelligence and beauty of the chimpanzees.” Thank you, Neil and thank you Tanya for honoring Neil by dedicating a day of sanctuary for the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees!
Here’s a special photo of the beautiful and intelligent Jody investigating the long laces on a sandal:
Burrito:
Jody:
Jamie:
Negra:
Annie:
Missy:
Foxie (with a playface):
Grooming, generally a very calm activity, is a really important part of chimpanzee culture. It establishes and strengthens friendships and alliances. Chimps part the hair and pick out any debris or dead skin. They also will groom scabs off of themselves and each other.
Left to right: Missy grooms Burrito’s head. Burrito grooms Foxie’s back. Foxie grooms Burrito’s arm.
Annie (right) grooms Missy’s face. Chimpanzees often use their lips as well as their fingers to groom themselves and others.
Jody (left) and Missy (right) groom Jamie (center, wearing scarf of trolls). This photo was taken shortly after Jamie had been ill for a few days and had been separated briefly from the group (though they could all still see each other). Grooming is very common when chimpanzees are reunited after even a short separation.
If you haven’t already, please call and write Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius today and urge her to halt the transfer of 202 chimpanzees from the Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) to the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in Texas.
You can send an electronic letter through the Humane Society of the United States and you can call the office of Health and Human Services at these numbers: 301-435-0888 or 202-205-5445 or 877-696-6775 (option #6 on the 877 number may put you in touch with a live person).
These chimpanzees should be allowed to permanently retire, not be subjected to more research. Retiring the chimpanzees is not only the ethical thing to do, it will also save taxpayer money, something we all have a right to speak out about. Currently, the chimpanzees are being warehoused at APF and have not been used in research for at least nine years.
Read our July 16th blog post about this issue for more information and read New Mexico governor Bill Richardson’s press release supporting halting the transfer of the APF chimpanzees.
Also, please see the statement from Save the Chimps released two days ago. It includes a link to a pdf which summarizes the history of chimpanzees in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
The announcement about the plan to transfer the chimpanzees was made well after the decision had been made. We must speak up now and keep the pressure on for the sake of the 202 individuals and their future.
Foxie cuddling with a headless doll (love is love, right?):
