Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

Great Ape Protection Act

Chimps in Labs report

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We are lucky that we are able to see and share “the other side of the story” of the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees. But we never forget where they came from and we never forget about the over 1,000 chimpanzees still in biomedical research facilities.

Today, an excellent set of articles came out about the use of chimpanzees in biomedical research and the issue of the Alamogordo Primate Facility chimpanzees whose fate is still uncertain after receiving a temporary reprieve from their transfer to what is now called the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Please read the series of articles in McClatchy by Chris Adams here: www.mcclatchydc.com/chimps

If you’ve been following this story on our blog and e-newsletters (just search for “Alamogordo” in the search box to the right), you know that Jody’s son Levi was already transferred to the biomedical facility. Among the 186 chimpanzees whose fate is depending on the decision of the NIH officials examining the issue is Negra’s daughter Heidi (pictured below), Foxie’s son David, and Jody’s daughter April.

Heidi

This is a crucial time for not just the Alamogordo chimpanzees, but all laboratory chimpanzees. The bill to outlaw the use of chimpanzees in invasive biomedical research in the United States was recently reintroduced as the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act.

Learn more about this bill and how to help: Project R&R

For more on the Alamogordo Primate Facility chimpanzees: Retire the Chimps

Senator Cantwell introduces GAPA companion bill

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If you receive our e-newsletter you found out some sad news this morning – at least four of the 202 chimpanzees living at the Alamogordo Primate Facility who are slated to be transferred to Texas and made available for biomedical testing are children of the Cle Elum Seven.

We were able to determine this thanks to Project Release and Restitution and the information they have available on their website.

Learn more about this transfer of 202 chimpanzees from our July 16th blog post and view today’s newsletter with details of whose children are among the group: August e-newsletter.

There is hope for these and all chimpanzees in biomedical research in the United States, however. Today, Washington State Senator Maria Cantwell introduced a companion bill to the Great Ape Protection Act, first introduced in the House of Representatives as HR 1326. Passing GAPA would mandate that federally-funded chimpanzees be retired to sanctuary and would outlaw the use of chimpanzees in painful and invasive biomedical research.

Learn more about GAPA and how you can help from the Seattle Times editorial co-written by Executive Director Sarah Baeckler and from the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine.

This is a crucial time for chimpanzees and we have the power to help them. Thanks to everyone who is speaking out for them.

chimpanzees still in labs

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The King 5 coverage last night mentioned the chimpanzees who are still in laboratories. Chimpanzees whose lives, like the Cle Elum Seven, could also remarkably improve if H.R. 1326, the Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA), is passed.

Sometimes it seems the barriers to this actually happening are insurmountable – the opposition to the bill by some in the biomedical research community; the funds that would be needed to create space and quality care for the chimpanzees in sanctuaries; and the inherent politics of getting a bill passed that have nothing to do with those 600 chimpanzee lives (and the other 500 who are privately owned and would no longer be tested on).

But then I think about other countries that have passed similar legislation, the bipartisan support that the bill has within the house, and the tremendous determination of those working on the legislation.

And I think about those 1100 chimpanzees. Many of them have very similar experiences as the Cle Elum Seven. Like Negra, Annie and Jody, many were taken from their native home of Africa as infants and may have never experienced what it feels like to be comfortable and safe. Some, like Foxie and Missy, were likely born into captivity for the purpose of being biomedical test subjects and, like Foxie, may never be able to learn natural chimpanzee behaviors like nest-building. Others, like Jamie and Burrito, were former “pets” or “entertainers,” possibly raised as substitute human children, abused by their trainers, then sold into biomedical research.

Those mostly unknown 1100 chimpanzees deserve sanctuary life as much as the seven chimpanzees in our care.  Their intelligence and individual personalities should be shared and appreciated. Whatever happens, they will always live in captivity, but they should have a second chance for a better life.

Look at Negra in the photos below – the first taken before her new life began, during her dark years of living in a basement with little mental stimulation, the second taken just days ago as she peacefully napped outside. And re-watch this video of Negra playing with Missy: https://chimpsnw.org/2009/11/negra-5/

Then check out the links below the photos about GAPA to learn how you can help create a better life for all of the Negras still in laboratories.

Negra sleeping with blanket

Learn more about the Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326) and how you can help from these groups:

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Humane Society of the United States

Project R&R

GAPA event tonight in Seattle

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Come to this talk with Debra Durham tonight! I’ll be there and will talk about the sanctuary to attendees.

Primatologist Debra Durham, Ph.D., will discuss her work with chimpanzee sanctuaries in Washington and around the world. She’ll also explain why we need to urge Sen. Maria Cantwell to support the Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA), a bill that would prohibit invasive research on chimpanzees and release about 500 chimpanzees to sanctuaries.gapa handout

When: Wednesday, Jan. 20, 7:30 – 9 p.m.
Where: Seattle Library
1000 4th Ave., Level 4, Room 2
Seattle, WA 98104
Tel: 206-386-4636

For more information about the event and how to get involved in advocating for GAPA, please see the Physicians Committee for Responsible medicine website: http://pcrm.org/resch/gapa/involved.html.

Jody, Missy, Burrito and the Great Ape Protection Act

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This is what I think about when I look at the below photos of our new friends…

the seven individuals who have a new home in Cle Elum are truly some of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. They rely on me and their other caregivers to provide everything for them, and the truth is that we can never do enough to make up for what they’ve been through in their lives, but we will do our best to try. These seven people truly need all of us in order to provide them with a good life. That is why I am so eager to share their lives through this blog. I hope that you will continue to learn about them, laugh at their antics (especially when it involves me getting spit on), marvel at their intelligence, and contemplate their resilient nature.

When I look at these photos I also think about the chimpanzees who are still in laboratories. There are ways that you can help them too – one simple thing that you can do today is to contact your legislator and encourage their support of the Great Ape Protection Act. You can find more information here: http://ga1.org/campaign/gapa

Jody, Missy and Burrito (below) have been in sanctuary for 17 days.  I would like be able to say that soon about all of the 1200 chimpanzees still in laboratories.

Jody

Missy

Burrito