Government Plans to Ship Chimpanzees to Texas for Invasive Research

Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico serves as a warehouse for primate research subjects. The facility is on the site where the U.S. Air Force conducted their "space chimp" research back in the 1950s. Today, every chimpanzee at APF has been exposed to various microorganisms, like the hepatitis C and HIV, but no research is currently being conducted there.

It may not exactly sound like paradise, but in addition to not having to endure invasive testing, the animals have indoor-outdoor access, fresh fruit and enrichment. The chimps are doing well there. In fact, Alamogordo could be converted into a sanctuary to allow the chimpanzees to permanently retire.

But retirement is not what the government has in mind for the more than 200 chimps remaining at the APF. Animal Protection of New Mexico recently learned of plans to move the animals to the Southwest National Primate Research Center in Texas where they will be used in invasive biomedical research.

The move itself would be stressful, but that pales in comparison to what would come next for the primates.  The Southwest National Primate Research Center will be "renovating" housing that was used for much smaller macaques.  The Center currently has thousands of primates including the macaques, other chimps and the "world's largest baboon population." (How sad is it that a laboratory boasts that distinction?) The chimpanzees would most likely to be used for research on infectious diseases — research that has been proven to be costly and ineffective. From AIDS to Alzheimer's, animal models don't work, even when its our closest cousins on the laboratory table.

Guess who's paying for all of this wasteful cruelty? You.

The transport of the chimps from Alamogordo, and everything that happens to them after that, is on the taxpayers' dime. Amazingly, the U.S. is the only developed nation in the world that still uses great apes in large-scale invasive research. The Great Ape Protection Act would put an end to that and release all the federally-owned chimpanzees, both the ones currently being used in research and those in holding facilities like Alamogordo, to live out their lives in sanctuaries. It's tragic that while legislation is being considered to stop chimpanzee experiments, and with all the proof that it doesn't work, there are still chimpanzees in imminent danger of being shipped off for testing.

Tell the government to stop the transfer of the Alamogordo chimps and let them retire in peace. Once you've signed that petition, add your name in support of the Great Ape Protection Act, too, so we can put an end to this cruelty once and for all.

Photo credit: timparkinson