Billy Jo, after decades in a lab, enjoyed eight years in sanctuary at Fauna and was loved and respected by all who knew him. Billy died February 14, 2006 at the age of only 37. He and others are our inspiration to change laws NOW.
Photo: © Fauna Foundation
Project R&R’s goal is to end the use of chimpanzees in U.S. research.
We work to educate the public; change existing laws, policies, and practices; and enact new laws for improved protection of chimpanzees while they remain in U.S. labs. Currently, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is the only existing federal law that requires minimum standards of care and treatment for certain animals in U.S. labs. The CHIMP Act and the recently introduced Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA) are two major pieces of federal legislation for the protection of chimpanzees:
The Great Ape Protection Act, H.R. 1326
The CHIMP Act
Timeline of Protections for U.S. Chimpanzees
March 5, 2009: H.R. 1326, the Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA), was reintroduced in the House by Representatives Towns, Reichert, Langevin, and Bartlett. The bill would end the use of chimpanzees and other great apes in invasive research.
April 17, 2008: H.R. 5852, the Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA), a bill that would end the use of chimpanzees and other great apes in invasive research was introduced in the House by Representatives Towns, Reichert, Langevin, and Bartlett.
December 2007: The Chimp Haven is Home Act was signed into law amending the CHIMP Act to now provide permanent retirement to chimpanzees who are retired into the federal sanctuary system.
Take action today to help end chimpanzee research:
May 2007: The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) of the National Institutes of Health ended federal funding for breeding federally-owned chimpanzees for research.
April 2006: Project R&R, a campaign of the 114-year-old New England Anti-Vivisection Society, formally launched in Atlanta, Georgia, home to the first dedicated chimpanzee laboratory. (In 2007, The HSUS formally launched its Chimps Deserve Better Campaign, also dedicated to ending chimpanzee research.)
December 2000: The CHIMP Act was signed into law and created a federally funded national sanctuary system for chimpanzees retired from research and prohibited killing them as a matter of convenience to laboratories.
Facts:
- Of the estimated 1,000 chimpanzees in nine U.S. laboratories, at least half are federally-owned or supported.
- The government spends $20 – 25 million per year on care of chimpanzees in labs.
- Approximately 152 chimpanzees have been retired to the federally funded national chimpanzee sanctuary system. Approximately 500 more from U.S. research, including military, air and space research, were rescued and reside at private sanctuaries in North America.
Worldwide condemnation
As of 2008, Belgium, Balearic Islands, Austria, Japan, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom – have passed laws to limit or ban chimpanzee research. Further, pending legislation directive EC86/609/EEC - which includes a ban on the use of great apes and ‘wild-caught’ monkeys in research, as well as a call towards ending the overall use of nonhuman primates in experiments, would ban the use of great apes in research throughout the European Union. Even in countries where chimpanzee research is not practiced, legislating outright bans show solidarity for ending chimpanzee research worldwide and in particular, in the U.S.
Project R&R lends its support to all such worldwide efforts.
If you live outside of the U.S., please show your support to end chimpanzee research in the U.S. by signing Project R&R’s Worldwide Solidarity Petition. Help us show U.S. legislators that there is a world movement that condemns experimenting on our closest relatives. Contact Project R&R for more information.
Sign up for Project R&R e-news to find out how you can help secure permanent protection for all chimpanzees.
