There is a glaring oversight in America’s federal legal code – an oversight that has prevented primates around the world from being rescued and receiving humane, lifetime care here in the US.

Years ago, Born Free USA received an email about rescuing a baboon from a zoo in Lebanon. We researched the issue and found that under current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) regulations, sanctuaries can’t import primates into the country – but zoos, universities, and research facilities can. Our bill would change this, allowing certified U.S. sanctuaries to rescue primates from overseas.

Born Free USA knows how important this is because of our experience taking in neglected primates at the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary in Texas. The 186-acre sanctuary is home to more than 600 primates, and could welcome more needy animals from abroad under this proposed regulatory change. Our sanctuary has been asked to take in primates from abusive situations outside the U.S.; for instance, in 2011, the Colobus Trust in South Coast, Diani Beach, Kenya requested that we take a yellow baboon who was kept as a pet and had developed behavioral issues, for which he was facing impending euthanasia. Sadly, the current regulation forced our sanctuary to deny this request and others.

Please sign the petition and help us pass the Humane Care for Primates Act (H.R. 3556), which will give abused primates around the world a second chance at a life worth living.