Failure to protect the chimpanzee, an endangered species
In 1990, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were declared an “endangered” species. However, this protected status only applied to free-living chimpanzees; chimpanzees held in captivity in the U.S. remained separately listed as “threatened,” which allows for their continued use in biomedical research, entertainment, and as pets in the U.S. This “split-listing” of free-living versus captive chimpanzees deprives all captive chimpanzees of any of the protections provided to species listed under the Endangered Species Act and allows for their continued exploitation in captivity despite the serious implications for this free-living population.
In 2011, NEAVS/Project R&R was one of several U.S. organizations that filed a rulemaking petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting that the agency "uplist" the status of captive chimpanzees from threatened to endangered. FWS found "[the petition]...presented substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing all chimpanzees...as endangered may be warranted." The petition is currently under review.
Failure to retire chimpanzees from research
The Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance, and Protection (CHIMP) Act, signed into law in 2000, could retire hundreds of chimpanzees from research immediately. It authorizes sending chimpanzees to sanctuary who are considered “not needed.” But “not needed” has never been defined. NEAVS submitted a Rulemaking Petition to hold the government accountable. Find out more.
Failure to mandate vailidated alternatives to animal research
NEAVS is a founding member of the Mandatory Alternatives Petition (MAP) coalition, which works to encourage the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop better policy guidelines regarding the use of non-animal, in vitro testing methods to meet FDA requirements for drug or device approval. As it now stands, industry need only "consider" alternatives. This lack of mandate perpetuates the dependence on cruel and ineffective status quo animal testing. Through the goals of MAP - encouraging and mandating that validated alternatives must be used in lieu of animals, NEAVS seeks to spare the lives of millions of animals each year and to set a platform upon which new alternatives will be developed, validated and used.