Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest will have a table at Pasado Safe Haven‘s Bark of Seattle at Seattle Center. Come say hi, and bring your pup for a day of fun.
chimpanzee
Grooming
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.
Keep the pressure on – help 202 chimpanzees
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
Foxie cuddling with a headless doll (love is love, right?):
A chimp and a monkey
The chimps seem to have a love/hate relationship with stuffed animals. Stuffed monkeys and apes, in particular, tend to get their insides ripped out quickly and somewhat violently. Sometimes, though, if they have that ineffable quality, they are granted a temporary reprieve and become snuggle partners.
Volunteer Stephanie P. and her niece Sara donated this giant monkey to the chimps, and he/she is still “alive” and kicking, against all odds.
Call the NIH today to help the APF chimpanzees
Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, just posted a blog entry about the 202 chimpanzees who are slated to be moved from the Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) to the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR).
Wayne expresses it well, “…the time is past for subjecting chimps to painful and unnecessary research, and much of the world is ahead of us in recognizing this fact.”
Hopefully, all of you emailed Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius after reading our blog post yesterday.
Now there’s something else you can do – call the Health and Human Services switchboard at 877-696-6775 and ask them to halt the transfer of these 202 chimpanzees and permanently retire them from research.
(When I called this number a moment ago, I got a series of menu options. I chose to leave a message for the Secretary of Health and Human Services at 202-205-5445. Perhaps during business hours there are humans who answer the phones. Let us know how your phone calls go.)
The chimpanzees cannot speak for themselves. Please speak on their behalf.
More Negra
