chimps are people too
For the past few months, I've been drawing attention to the senseless experimentation/torture of captive chimpanzees in the name of research. This is a cause that is very close to my heart. Chimpanzees are thinking, feeling beings. Many are still senselessly tortured in the name of science on a daily basis, in this country and around the world. Progress is being made, however, and there are many ways you can help protect these vulnerable creatures.
In December, The National Institutes of Health suspended all new grants for biomedical and behavioral research on chimpanzees following the recommendation of an expert committee of the Institute of Medicine, which revealed that most chimpanzee research and experimentation was unnecessary. Dr Francis S. Collins, who is the director of the N.I.H. told reporters that as our closest living relatives, chimps deserve special consideration and respect.
The fight is far from over and there are still things you can do to help.
It's not too late to show your support for The Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act (H.R. 1513/S. 810) and write a letter to your representatives in government to ask for legislation that will completely phase out the use of chimpanzees in invasive research, release the more than 500 federally owned chimpanzees to sanctuaries, and prohibit breeding of chimpanzees for the purpose of conducting research.
Another way to help is encourage the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services to list all chimps, including captive chimps, as endangered. You can fill out this petition HERE to help make that happen.
Educate yourself on what life is really like for chimps living in laboratories.
Donate to sanctuaries like Save The Chimps.
Most important is to just do something. Share links on your Facebook and Twitter and help get the word out that these animals need to be set free so that they can have some kind of meaningful and happy existence while they are still on this planet.
When I breastfeed, I feel like my Bear is a little monkey; they are the same.
Please let me know how you feel about this issue in the comments below, and share any other information or ideas you have. Let's save these beautiful animals.
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10 comments
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I hate to keep harping about advertisers' exploitation of chimpanzees... but I hate that they keep doing it! The latest to join the use-a-baby-chimp-to-sell-product club is Tropicana. And even worse, when hundreds of people IMMEDIATELY went to the Trop50 Facebook page to tell them to drop the ad, they issued some fantasy drivel about how this former pet chimp was "rescued" by the animal trainers who supply him to production companies. The moral of the story: don't buy Tropicana products if you want to see chimps able to live like chimps! http://chimptrainersdaughter.blogspot.com/2012/04/hey-tropicana-stop-exploiting-little.html
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Stan...point taken. Chimps are MUCH nicer than humans and we shouldn't degrade them by callling them human. Look at the way we kill chickens in most slaughterhouses. So inhumane (and filthy) that some countries, last I checked, won't import our chicken meat. NO other species on the planet has inflicted the mass suffering on other species or even our own species, not to mention the planet as a whole, as humans have.
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I think one of the most important things we can do is to speak out against all the charities that conduct laboratory testing, not just on chimps, but on other animals as well. It is not a popular fight, but when Komen, St. Judes, and March of Dimes for instance are pounding the pavement for donations, we need to put our money into charities that do not conduct animal research. wwwhumaneseal.org is a great place to start, and so is telling your friends when they ask you to support them in their charities. It's not that giving is bad, is that giving to charities who 'do bad things to animals...'
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While I do agree on the abuse of the closest branch of evolution to humans...the chimpanzee, there are two misconceptions that have been presented here. One, that chimps are people and the other concerning how chimps don't know how to be " real " chimpanzees " ( from the previous post ). In their natural environment, chimpanzees are known to steal young babies from other species ( close to their own )....tear them apart alive and eat them. This was shown in a documentary dealing with our closest relative on the evolutionary tree.
As much as I appreciate what is said on this site from time to time, it is also extremely important not to diffuse information that is inaccurate and or misleading.
As to chimps are people....the chimpanzee differs from humans by one genetic marker. Close but not Hu ( human ). Some other creatures differ by only a couple of markers.....these creature are very different from humans.
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We also need to speak out when we see chimpanzees being used in advertisements and entertainment. These are always young chimps who have been torn away from their mothers and raised in social isolation so they will "bond" with their human trainers. They cavort in human clothes, and don't know how to be real chimpanzees. By the time they are juveniles, they start rebelling against performing, and so they are dumped into roadside zoos or kept in unacceptable conditions.
As people become more aware, the use of chimps in entertainment and ads is declining - but some fossilized companies still hold out. Don't buy from companies that use chimps for product promotion. And please sign our petition, asking CareerBuilder to stop using chimps in their stupid ads! http://chimptrainersdaughter.blogspot.com/2012/01/add-your-name-to-record-of-people.html
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Also, at the very least I think we should revoke the testing licenses of the worst chimp abusers. Harvard-affiliated laboratories had 9 animals die from maltreatment while subjects of research. Lets do something to get Harvard's animal testing license revoked. I'm thinking we should follow the lead of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and send letters to the USDA requesting animal research at Harvard Medical School's be stopped. It couldn't hurt to also send letters to the President of Harvard Drew Faust.
I found a petition here:
http://forcechange.com/12490/suspend-harvards-animal-testing-until-they-show-they-can-do-it-properly-humanely/
and the USDA's addresss is here:
Mr. Ed Schafer, Secretary
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
Let's do something!
Story about the chimps from the Harvard Crimson:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/1/23/Animals-Testing-Lab/ -
"my Bear is a little monkey...they are the same"
I don't have children yet and I avoid making comparisons between animals and infants because it's not well received by those around me (animal eaters). However, I always understood my connection to animals by remembering how little I understood of the world around me in my very early childhood memories. When I see a pig or a chimp that's the state I find myself imagining that they are in. I am really fascinated by Alicia's observation who continues to care for animals (something I have been told that apparently I will get over when I have real kids!) and sees similarities with her precious one. How inspiring!
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I now plan to write to my local represenative and also print this out to put on the notice board at work. Thanks for all you do!
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Thank you for posting this! The Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries is in the process of Accrediting the best chimp sancturies in North America. The unbelievalbe work the sanctuaries do is just amazing and they deserve your support!
Patty Finch
Executive Director of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. -
It amazes me that science is still abusing these sensitive animals for senseless research. How sad that they live their lives in a cage indoors in a lab, not how they were designed to live. I know so many of us get busy in our own daily lives but it is our responsiblity to care for the animals on this planet. I think it is so wonderful that Alicia makes time for these little creatures in her busy schedule as a mom, actress and author so I think we can take a little time to do something too. Remember they are helpless, innocent beings that have no way of saying "please stop hurting me, let me be free to live my life too."
Thank you Alicia for what you are doing and for being the example that we can learn from.
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