Poll shows overwhelming support for release
 of chimpanzees used more than 10 years

April 5, 2006 (Boston, MA) ― One of the nation’s oldest animal protection organizations is headed to Atlanta, Georgia, to kick off Project R&R:  Release and Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Labs, a national campaign to end the use of chimpanzees in research. Austria recently became the latest of several countries to ban the use of great apes in research. The U.S., the last remaining large-scale user of chimpanzees in research in the world, has an estimated 1,200 chimpanzees still held in labs.

Project R&R aims to mobilize public support to secure the release of chimpanzees now in labs into permanent sanctuaries. Most chimpanzees in U.S. labs have been there for decades, and many have been used in multiple experiments.  Some of the oldest were captured as infants in Africa.  Chimpanzees in captivity can live 50-55 years.

A recent public survey showed that most Americans are concerned about the harm done to chimpanzees in labs.  Over 70% believe those used in research for more than 10 years should be retired.

“It is the American public that pushes our scientific community to make major ethical advances,” says Theodora Capaldo, EdD, director of Project R&R. “Our fellow great apes are highly intelligent, socially complex, and emotionally rich. The U.S. must join the moral world community in ending their use in research.”

Project R&R’s launch event, In Their Own Words, will be held April 20, 2006 at the Fernbank Museum of Natural History at 7:00pm. Atlanta is home to the Yerkes National Primate Research Center – one of eight federally funded primate facilities and the namesake of Robert Yerkes, known as the father of chimpanzee research.

The multimedia event includes presentations by: Gloria Grow, founder and director of the Fauna Foundation sanctuary; Jarrod Bailey, PhD, Science Advisor to Project R&R;  Nancy Megna and Jen Feuerstein, former Yerkes’ laboratory caregivers; and, Theodora Capaldo, EdD, NEAVS president and director of Project R&R.

In Their Own Words is free and open to the public.  Reserve now as seating is limited. Call toll-free at 1-877-2CHIMPS (224-4677).  Project R&R is a campaign of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS). For more information, please go to www.releasechimps.org. 

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Contacts:
Theodora Capaldo, EdD, (cell) 617-413-0611   (w) 617-523-6020
Karen Smith, (w) 617-523-6020

Project R&R director Theodora Capaldo, EdD, offered ethical and scientific arguments supporting an end to the use of chimpanzees in research at the annual Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) conference, the Boston Park Plaza, on March 27.

Capaldo, was joined by Kathleen Conlee, director of program management, Animal Research Issues at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Linda Brent, President, Chimp Haven, to host a panel entitled “Should Chimpanzees Be Laboratory Animals: Prevailing Laws Concerning Importation, Breeding, the Status of the Sanctuary Program, and the General Ethical Dilemma.”

The use of chimpanzees in research troubles both the public and, increasingly, many scientists as well.” noted Capaldo. “Despite its ethical and scientific flaws it is difficult to change established habits. Forums such as PRIM&R help move the debate into action.

PRIM&R conferences offer employees of research institutions, hospitals, universities, the federal government, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to receive training and the opportunity to consider “key issues related to human and animal subjects in research.”

The annual PRIM&R conferences also provide instruction for members of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCS) responsible for approving the use of animals in research protocols per the Animal Welfare Act. Repeated audits by the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have noted continuing issues with IACUCs.

Co-sponsors for the conference were:

• Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC International)
• Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, National Institutes of Health (OLAW/NIH)
• United States Department of Agriculture, APHIS (USDA/APHIS)

For more information on the 2006 Annual IACUC Conference:
http://www.primr.org/index.html

While other nations have enacted bans and limitations on the use of chimpanzees and other great apes in research, the U.S. remains the single largest user of chimpanzees in the world.

Project R&R works for the release and restitution of all chimpanzees in all U.S. labs. In solidarity with U.S. efforts, organizations and individuals from countries around the globe can help.

Please sign the petition(s) below and show your support today!

Canadian citizens: Sign the Canadian Solidarity Petition to Ban Chimpanzee Research in Canada

Non-U.S. citizens (including Canadians): Sign our World Solidarity Petition to End Chimpanzee Research in the U.S.

Project R&R/NEAVS today submitted written testimony to the House committee on appropriations.

The testimony states that:

Project R&R specifically requests that federal funding for breeding of chimpanzees for research, or for projects that require breeding of chimpanzees, be prohibited… We further request that if a facility that houses federally owned or supported chimpanzees is found to be breeding chimpanzees, its federal funding be revoked.

By presenting this testimony, Project R&R hopes to begin to lay the groundwork for an end to all use of chimpanzees in research by addressing many of the same issues that will be pertinent to the success of such a ban. Further, given the recent National Advisory Research Resources Council’s (NARRC) decision to extend the voluntary breeding moratorium through 2007, the climate to argue against further breeding is right.

The testimony was co-signed by Project R&R’s director and several notable advisory board members.

Read the testimony.

Read the article:
Chimp dies during transfer from Ohio State University  [March 23, 2006 - The Columbus Dispatch]