Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/retired-lab-chimps-face-uncertain-future/

The story of the 18 chimps at the Wildlife Waystation in Sylmar, California is just one of the many tragedies brought upon laboratory animals by humans.

In this case, it’s laboratory chimpanzees which have been bred for medical research with many of them not getting a chance to see the world that exists outside their small cages.

Wildlife Waystation: The Plight of 18 Retired and Homeless Chimpanzees

Most of the chimpanzees the Wildlife Waystation had taken in before its closure in 2019 came from laboratories. A handful were movie industry’s cast-offs and monkeys who were given up by their owners.

Upon its closure, the sanctuary’s almost 500 animals had to be transferred to other animal havens which included lions, tigers, wolves, camels, and tortoises. Meanwhile, out of the 42 chimpanzees, 32 were fortunate enough to find new homes too.

But, 18 were left behind. Living on meager meals at the dilapidated Wildlife Waystation which is now almost covered with weeds nad vegetation. These chimps along with a handful of caretakers are surviving only through private donations. Private organizations are exerting their best to raise funds to build new homes for the remaining chimps at two sanctuaries in Florida and Louisiana. Though, at the moment, these long-neglected chimps must continue holding on until their day of salvation.

Who Should be Responsible for Retired Lab Chimps?

“The government essentially created this issue by breeding these chimpanzees and then deciding that they no longer needed them for research,” Ed Butler, executive director of Rise for Animals which opposes animal experimentation, told National Geographic. According to him, putting an end to lab testing was the right decision “but they need to go that extra step and release all these animals and pay for their care.”

In 1986, the National Institute of Health established the Chimpanzee Breeding and Research Program in an effort to combat the newly-emerged HIV/AIDs pestilence. However, research later showed that chimps were poor substitutes for humans in the massive effort to find a cure.

In 1995, NIH stopped breeding chimps due to overpopulation. And, in 2000, the CHIMP Act was ]signed by President Bill Clinton which stated:

• Euthanasia of chimpanzees is prohibited except for humane health reasons during an untreatable disease: No chimpanzee can be killed just because the animals are no longer of “use,” overpopulation in the facility, or the cost of maintenance has become too high.
• A federally funded retirement system must be established for chimpanzees no longer needed for research: Chimp Haven. It is required that the government take responsibility for at least the partial cost of lifetime care for a retired chimp outside of the laboratory setting: There should be 90% federal funding for the establishment and 75% federal funding for the maintenance of retirement facilities.

However, it took NIH 15 years to halt all invasive research on chimpanzees, and as a result there was a scramble among NIH-funded institutions to dump their lab chimps.

But, it is the lab chimps from privately-owned research facilities without NIH support that are in more dire situations. No fund has been set up for their retirement.

Just like in the case of the 18 chimpanzees at the Wildlife Waystation, most of whom came from the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), a private research facility funded by New York University’s School of Medicine which is now inoperative.

According to Erika Fleury, director of the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, NYU has not provided any financial help for the LEMSIP chimps. “We had some people say, How come NYU isn’t contributing? and my answer to that is, I don’t know … We don’t have the ability to chase down NYU funding,” even though “it might make sense morally for them to contribute.”

There is no federal law that obliges NYU and other institutions like them to fund the lifetime care of retired lab chimps.

The Least Humans Can Do for Lab Chimps Who Have Suffered for Our Sake

Jeannie died in 2007, she was one of the chimps that was taken in by Fauna Foundation when NYU-funded LEMSIP closed down.

Jeannie was transferred to LEMSIP in 1988, and she was used as a research subject for HIV studies at 18 years old. There, according to Project R&R, the female chimp “was repeatedly given vaginal washes and cervical biopsies. She often needed to be treated for self-inflicted wounds and suffered from anorexia . . . In 1995, as her stress and inability to cope mounted, she had a ‘nervous breakdown,’ and spent the next two years heavily medicated for anxiety. However, the medication did not help or prevent her from having episodes during which she screamed, ripped off her fingernails, and thrashed out at anyone who came near. Nor did her emotionally debilitated condition get her released from the lab sooner.”

Jeannie found love only after she was adopted by Fauna Foundation. Fauna Foundation’s director Gloria Grow and several other people fought to keep her since LEMSIP already wanted to euthanize her, if not to transfer Jeannie to the disreputable Coulston Foundation.

Jeannie did not fully recover at the Fauna Foundation’s sanctuary, but she was happier. She came to love the sun, the wind, the world around her. Occasionally, she would experience anxiety attacks due to her traumatic past. She was also uncomfortable being in large, social groups. But she did find a couple of close friends. Together, the former lab chimps discovered a new meaning to their lives.

After adopting Jeannie to be a part of their family at the Fauna Foundation’s sanctuary, Gloria aptly said these words: “We cannot change her past, but we certainly can try to give her a life worth living.”

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Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog