[berrykat]

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/chimpanzees/index.html Awesome program on pbs on chimps used in biomedical reserch and the sanctuaries that take them in after humans are done with them. I didn't ge to see all of it but what I saw was awesome PBS did a great job discussing what we do to these chimps and how we use them.

 

[Irizary]

I saw just the end of it. It was very sad to see some of these animals who had been caged alone their whole lives lumbering around like scared toddlers too scared to even touch grass. And the one who had parts of his spinal column removed (causing lifelong chronic pain) for some completely useless piece of research...but it's even sadder to think of all the chimps still in barren cages and chains for life.

 

[berrykat]

I loved seeing the chimp climb the tree he seemed so happy.

 

[Ludi]

My husband watched part of this and came to dinner in tears and sobbing for the poor chimps.

 

[Obladiblada]

I haven't seen the program, so I don't know if this was mentioned or not, but here is a link to a sanctuary in Shreveport, Louisiana, that I support, Chimp Haven, if you're interested. There are certain days when you can visit the sanctuary as well, if you happen to live in the area.

Also, I highly recommend reading the book Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Have Taught Me about Who We Are by Roger Fouts. I read this for an anthropology class in college and found it to be deeply moving. I actually still have the book review I wrote for it, so I'll just copy and paste my summary:

It is the story of a naive young psychology student who accidentally becomes an advocate for chimpanzee rights. His journey begins when he meets Washoe, a rambunctious young chimpanzee, who literally leaps into his life and changes it forever. Washoe was part of a language research study in which she lived as a member of a human family and was taught sign language. After the family decided to end their research they put Washoe into Mr. Fouts's care. The rest of the tale follows him and Washoe as she becomes a part of his own family and other chimpanzees come into and out of their lives. Their story is at times uplifting, but often heart wrenching. It is an honest and thought provoking account of one man's discovery that humans are not so unique, and that chimpanzees have value beyond use in biomedical research, because they have a lot to teach us about who we are.

Anyway, based on my review, and how affected I obviously was by this book, my professor, who is one of the trustees, I believe, at Chimp Haven, pointed me towards the sanctuary.

 

[Noelson]

I saw it, I balled my eyes out too. The chimp was "Tommy" - that was my favorite part. I cried and cried for Tommy. I cry for all those chimps that need to be rescued - very sad.

BTW - this very same production company did "The Urban Elephant" which is EXCELLENT. Shows The Elephant Sanctuary and the reunion of "Jenny and Shirley" which truly is an amazing story. Sadly, Jenny died a few weeks back

 

[berrykat]

I loved the Urban Elephant! Elephants are amazing.

 

[GhostUser]

There was an intersting thing Jane Goodall said that I never thought about:

When talking about some of the experiments chimps are used for, she mentioned that a lot of the time the data probably isn't even accurate because the conditions the chimps are in are nowhere near they're natural state...so all the stress, pain, fear, ect. effects their physiology. So the way their systems handle drugs or whatever they are being tested on/for, isn't necessarily how a chimp's body would handle it under natural circumstances.

That makes a lot of the current testing even more unecessary because the results may be less accurate than to begin with.

 

[gas4]

That's such a good point. Any human you're giving the substance to is in a position of hope that this thing will work, and trust. You can explain to humans exactly what's going on, they'll be around their family etc. Totally different situation to what the chimp is in.

 

[Amy SF]

I saw it today! It was indeed heartbreaking and very informative.

By the way, there was discussion in this program about the passage of a bill that would protect chimpanzees in the US. It provides for sanctuaries for chimps no longer used in research, but a clause added to the bill stipulated that the chimps in these sanctuaries could be recalled for further research.

And Chimp Haven was mentioned as one of those sanctuaries.

 

[salliezoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amy SF

I saw it today! It was indeed heartbreaking and very informative.

By the way, there was discussion in this program about the passage of a bill that would protect chimpanzees in the US. It provides for sanctuaries for chimps no longer used in research, but a clause added to the bill stipulated that the chimps in these sanctuaries could be recalled for further research.

And Chimp Haven was mentioned as one of those sanctuaries.

Chimp Haven is one of those so called "sanctuaries" under the revised CHIMP act. They are NOT a "permanent" sanctuary as they claim. It is funded by the government & NIH, and supported by pharmaceutical companies. Those poor chimps can be recalled for experiments "as needed". If you look at their board of directors, it consists of past & present researchers, NIH researchers, etc. Tom Butler, the chairman oftheir board of directors, has spent his career infecting chimps with disease like HIV & Hepatitis and did so less than a year before chimp haven opened. Basically it is just a "storage" facility for chimps that is supported by our tax dollars. Please do not donate to them until you check this for yourself. It is not managed well at all. In the past year half the staff has been fired, some positions have been filled with people who have no experience with chimps. True sanctuaries are those seen in the PBS documentary, Fauna Foundation in Canada and Save The Chimps in Florida. Those facilities do not allow chimps to ever be used in research again. Support them instead...they deserve it.

 

[salliezoo]

Chimp Haven is NOT a "permanent" sanctuary as they claim. They are subsidized under the revised CHIMP Act...that means the chimps can be recalled for experimentation "as needed" at any time. Please check their board of directors...nearly all are researchers or work for NIH (a government funded lab). The chairman of the board, Tom Butler, spent his career infecting chimps with HIV and Hepatitis. Please check this out for yourself and reconsider supporting them. They get millions from the government and pharmeceutical companies. Chimp Haven is a "storage" facility for research labs, not a "sanctuary". Hopefully your professor is no longer associated with them. You might want to give him a call and have him check this for you.