PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
  1. Signatures
    435 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. Program Officer, Nation Institutes of Health (Harold Watson, Ph.D.)
  2. Created By
    Kelly Hayes
    Chicago, IL
About this Petition Petition Letter

Many of you know the story of the Alamogordo chimps.  They endured horrorific conditions at The Coulston Foundation, where three chimps actually cooked to death in 1995, when the temperature in their unmonitored enclosure reached 140 degrees.  Dozens of chimps died "unintended deaths," and the lab was repeatedly investigated, and cited, for animal welfare violations, financial irregularities, and problems with the integrity  of their data.  Despite ongoing violations of federal animal welfare laws, and a lack of oversight, The National Inistitutes of Health helped to keep the lab afloat, funneling at least $10,000,000 in funding to the lab, between 1993 and 2000. 

Testifying before Congress in 2000, In Defense of Animals claimed that NIH's funding of the lab was illegal, because federal law requires the NIH director to "suspend or revoke" funding if a lab is not accredited by AAALAC, and does not have a functioning review committee.  By 2001, the lab had lost all financial viability, and was facing numerous charges. 

In 2002, after a long battle to save these tortured animals, Save The Chimps was allowed to purchased the disgraced facility.  266 chimpanzees, and 61 monkeys were promptly freed to sanctuaries.  Unfortunately, nearly 200 Coulston chimpanzees did not make it to the sanctuaries; instead, they remained in New Mexico under the control of the National Institutes of Health at the Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) on Holloman Air Force Base. The Air Force said these chimpanzees would undergo no additional experimentation.

Now, the NIH wants to return them all to experimentation. 

Doctors and scientists with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) have filed a federal complaint with Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, to prevent the planned transfer of these chimp survivors.  The doctors' legal petition invokes the Chimpanzee Health Improvement Maintenance and Protection (CHIMP) Act, enacted to ensure the retirement and sanctuary placement of chimpanzees who have endured numerous years of experimentation.  Many Alamogordo chimpanzees are elderly, and have been used repeatedly for invasive procedures.  Many suffer from heart disease, making them especially unsuitable for medical experiments.  New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and primatologist Jane Goodall have also spoken out against the proposed transfer. 

NIH has done enough damage.  After years of propping up The Coulston Foundation, and allowing the cruelty there to continue, they now want to start the cycle of cruelty all over again.  These chimps have suffered enough.  Tell NIH that we demand these chimps be given a peaceful retirement.

Recent Signatures

Peace and Retirement for Coulston Chimps

Greetings,

I agree with the position of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, who have filed a federal complaint with Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, to prevent the planned transfer of nearly 200 federally owned chimpanzees to a laboratory in San Antonio, Texas. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and primatologist Jane Goodall have also spoken out against the proposed transfer.

“There can be no scientific, legal, or ethical justification for returning a 50-year-old chimpanzee to laboratory experiments,” says John J. Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C., senior medical and research adviser for PCRM. “More than five decades of experiments have shown us that chimpanzees are poor models for researching human diseases. Are we such slow learners that we now return to these outdated methods?” In submitting the petition to Secretary Sebelius, Dr. Pippin is joined by 11 other authorities, including Harvard professor Richard Wrangham, Ph.D., and University of New Mexico professor John Gluck, Ph.D.

Your organization supported The Coulston Foundation financially while it continuously violated federal animal welfare laws. Dozens of chimps died horrible deaths during that time. The cycle of cruelty needs to end now.

Senator Maria Cantwell. recently introduced the Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA), S. 3694, which would advance medical research by phasing out wasteful and misleading chimpanzee experiments, and releasing federally owned chimpanzees to sanctuaries. A parallel House bill, H.R. 1326, has gained significant momentum and now has 149 co-sponsors.

In September, the European Union banned great ape experiments.

Your organization needs to embrace these positive trends in science, and animal welfare, and give these chimps the peaceful retirement that they deserve.

[Your name]

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