Celebrities for Chimps: The Great Ape Protection Act

Earlier this year, after 2,500 Ideas for Change had been submitted, the Change.org community voted to determine the top ten. One of those top ideas was to End Chimpanzee Experiments. I don't know why, or if, you voted for it, but I can tell you why it was at the top of my list. The simple answer is: animal testing is cruel and ineffective.

According to Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the U.S. "is the only nation in the world that is known to still use captive chimpanzees for large-scale invasive research." The Great Ape Protection Act (pdf) would put an end to that. But here's what I love about this bill — not only does it stop cruelty, but it provides for the future of the chimps. One of the provisions of GAPA is that all of the federally owned chimpanzees would be released to sanctuaries, where they would be protected for the rest of their lives.

I'm not the only one who thinks GAPA is legislation that's long overdue. The bill has bi-partisan support from nearly 150 congressional co-sponsors. Of course, it needs more than sponsors — it needs to pass. And that's why celebrities are putting their star power behind the chimps, too.

Actress and model Pamela Anderson wrote Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Calif) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) on a personal note: "As one of more than 3 million Americans living with hepatitis C, I am writing to ask that you take steps to end the ineffective and cruel research using chimpanzees and direct federal funds to modern, human-based research methods that will be more effective at finding a vaccine and treatment for hepatitis C and other deadly diseases."

Emily Deschanel, the vegan star of Bones, also wrote Rep. Waxman on behalf of chimpanzees: "This legislation would allow about 500 chimpanzees to live their remaining years in sanctuaries. They could form bonds with other chimpanzees, bask in the sunlight, and feel the grass and the earth. That's the least we can do for chimpanzees, our species' closest living relatives."

Chimps are close enough to humans that they can feel emotional and physical pain similar to ours. And, if you're an empathetic animal advocate, then you can feel their pain, too, when they're subjected to painful experiments, sensory deprivation, isolation, and forced to live for decades in cages no bigger than a kitchen table. But chimps are not humans, and they've been proven to be bad models for predicting how diseases and treatments will work in people.

So, join Pamela Anderson, Emily Deschanel, Elizabeth Kucinich, and other activists in calling on Congress to pass the Great Ape Protection Act.

As Pamela Anderson wrote: "Chimpanzees deserve a chance to live out their lives in the safety of a sanctuary, and we deserve responsible and effective disease research using the best methods available." And neither of us should have to wait any longer.

Photo credit: RavenU