Sanctuary Under Siege
Concocting a Lawsuit Against a Texas Refuge, Welfare Advocates Throw the Ball at the Wrong Goal
For 23 years, a small group of chimpanzees, natives of equatorial Africa with an intense natural urge for motion and freedom, were kept in Ohio and used in cognition experiments.
When the project’s funding dried up, and the University decided to divest itself of the research subjects, the Texas sanctuary Primarily Primates stepped forward to accept the chimpanzees.
The nine chimpanzees were taken out of the Ohio lab on the 27th of February. The experimenter, chained to the laboratory door in an angry display against the University, protested the end of the research opportunity, and quickly found allies to help attack the sanctuary. Some animal advocates joined in the pile-on — even going so far as to insist they should sue the refuge, and then touting this attack as a landmark case. Great Ape Standing & Personhood provides a report, including observations sent directly from the sanctuary by leading animal rights advocate Priscilla Feral. Read the report by Great Ape Standing & Personhood here.
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On September 14, 2006, Friends of Animals wrote:
Update, September 2006:
Having just had its lawsuit against Primarily Primates (PPI) rejected by a court, PeTA has begun another attack on the sanctuary by posting on its website and circulating highly questionable affidavits.
One affidavit is from Terry Minchew. This person has been an active member of the Simian Society of America, a group that promotes the commerce in primates as pets. Hardly a paragon of credibility in a case against a sanctuary — a sanctuary, by the way, that became a dumping ground for many of Minschew’s own discarded animals.
On top of it all, had PeTA prevailed, as the case developed, the chimpanzees in question would have gone to Chimp Haven. Created to meet the purposes of the CHIMP Act, Chimp Haven is not a true sanctuary, because it keeps the titles to resident apes in the hands of the research sector.
Primarily Primates is fully capable of refuting PeTA’s continued allegations; indeed, that’s what it’s been doing for weeks. Meanwhile, the time and costs of defending their sanctuary from PeTA comes right out of the mouths of the sanctuary’s nonhuman residents.
Donations are needed by the sanctuary, and can be sent to: Primarily Primates, Inc., PO Box 207, San Antonio, TX 78291-0207.