Many chimpanzees have spent decades in laboratories. These laboratories are allowed to keep chimpanzees in cages the size of a kitchen table, deprive them of normal social interaction, and repeatedly subject them to invasive procedures. In addition, only 15 percent of chimpanzees living in laboratories are used in research. The other 85 percent are simply warehoused for potential future use.  

The Great Ape Protection Act (S. 3694) would end invasive research on the more than 1,000 chimpanzees in U.S. laboratories. The bill would also release these federally owned chimpanzees to permanent sanctuaries where they would be allowed to live out their lives in peace. 
 
Chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates are used in medical research because of the assumption that they are closest to humans in physiology. Yet nonhuman primates are profoundly different from humans at the genetic and molecular levels, where disease processes and treatment take place. As a result, chimpanzee research is not only inhumane, but also ineffective in finding cures for human disease.  

Please send the e-mail below that asks your Senators to co-sponsor the Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA).