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If you’re a Primate Patrol member or follow the Primate Patrol page on Facebook, you know that Dodge recently altered their advertisement campaign which had included a chimpanzee named Suzie (Suzy).
Dodge took it a step further and released a powerful statement, which included these sentences:
“Dodge is firmly committed to never using great apes in our advertisements again.”
“We are not a company that hides behind issues or brushes them under the rug. We are a company that meets issues head on and moves forward. And we promise to keep doing everything in our power to be one of the most honest and forward-thinking companies out there.”
This morning, Dodge published the link to their statement on their Facebook page. They have received a bit of flack from Dodge enthusiasts who clearly do not appreciate PETA, who Dodge mentions in their statement.
If you’re a Facebook user, please counter these folks by liking the Dodge Facebook page and politely thanking Dodge for indeed being a forward-thinking company on the issue of great apes in entertainment. Corporations can never make everyone happy, but we should praise them when they make compassionate decisions.
My Dodge Neon was the vehicle that Keith and J.B. drove from Pennsylvania to Cle Elum, following the Cle Elum Seven’s journey to freedom over two years ago. So now I have two big reasons to appreciate Dodge.
Watch this recent interview with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who just might be my new favorite person: http://apnm.org/news_current_events/2010/govrichardson_koat.php
If you’re in New Mexico, watch KNME at 7:00pm tonight for “New Mexico in Focus.” For those not in New Mexico, the show will be made available online after the weekend.
The KNME show will include a panel discussion about the Alamogordo Primate Facility chimpanzees who are slated to move to a laboratory in San Antonio, Texas. The panel includes State Representative Nate Cote, University of New Mexico Professor Dr. John Gluck, and Animal Protection of New Mexico’s Laura Bonar.
Included in the group of 202 chimpanzees in Alamogordo are Jody, Foxie and Negra’s children. Jody’s son Levi has already been transferred to Texas.
Much of this information comes from the latest update from Animal Protection of New Mexico. Read the entire update here: http://apnm.org/mailbox/aug13_1_10.html We are so grateful to APNM for continuing to work on helping these chimpanzees and for keeping us all informed and letting us know how we can help.
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
Check out last night’s coverage of the Great Ape Protection Act, which included an interview at the sanctuary with Executive Director Sarah Baeckler, an interview with our friend Debra Durham of PCRM, and a goofy Foxie. You can watch online here: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/100170339.html?tab=video
Please leave a comment below the video and thank KOMO for covering the news of Maria Cantwell’s introduction of the Great Ape Protection Act to the Senate.
Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Release and Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Laboratories (Project R&R) has learned that Levi, Jody’s son, is among the group of chimpanzees who have already been moved from the Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) to the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research.
Project R&R is encouraging supporters to contact Dr. Barbara Alving, the Director of the National Center for Research Resources. Please see the Project R&R alert and contact Dr. Alving today to ask her to halt the transfer of any more chimpanzees and allow all 202 chimpanzees from APF to be permanently retired.
Jody had at least nine babies taken from her during her years as a breeder and biomedical test subject. For the first time in her life she is able to soak up the sun, make huge nests and live each day without pain and fear. Her son Levi and her daughter April, who is still at APF, deserve the same.
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.
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.
Please see our July 16th post, Chimpanzees to be moved for research, for the background information on this story.
Fifteen chimpanzees have already been moved from the Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) to the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in Texas, but we cannot give up. The chimpanzees need us to speak out for them.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has issued a press release asking the NIH to permanently retire all of the APF chimpanzees, return the 15 chimpanzees that have already been sent to Texas and convert the Facility into a sanctuary.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has made it easy for everyone to contact the NIH about this urgent issue. Please see the HSUS action alert, take action and share with your friends today.
You can keep updated on the campaign to retire the APF chimpanzees by following Animal Protection of New Mexico on their website and their Facebook page.
Exciting news! Preparations for our Oct 1, 2010 auction – Out of the Box are in full swing and we have some amazing auction items!
The auction team has been working hard to get good deals and donations for all that it takes to put on this fabulous event. We still have to pay for some things, though, and this is where you can help!
We are seeking individual and business cash sponsors to offset the costs of the auction, and we’ll even give you stuff for your donation. Big thanks to Barbara Lauterbach, who made her Playface sponsorship donation months ago (I wish I could plan ahead as well as Barbara!)
See the main auction page for details and current sponsors, or just click to download the documents below and make a donation by check or online:
CSNW 2010 Individual Sponsor Benefits (pdf)
CSNW 2010 Business Sponsor Benefits (pdf)
Please feel free to reach out to businesses you frequent and to friends about sponsoring our auction, just let me know and I can send you more introductory information. Email me: diana@ChimpSanctuaryNW.org
Out of the Box is going to be a fantastic and fun night. With your help, we’ll make even more money for an exciting new project for the chimpanzees…
Get your own copy of the book Sanctuary: Year One. Forward by Jane Goodall. Full of amazing photos of the Cle Elum Seven. Shop for all items in the online store.
