Just following Earth Day and the release of the Disney Nature documentary Chimpanzee, which features chimpanzees in the wild where they belong, Congress considers the fate of the approximately 950 chimpanzees currently languishing in six U.S. laboratories.
Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee on Water and Wildlife, chaired by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., held a hearing on S. 810, the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act. The bipartisan bill, introduced by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., will phase out invasive research on chimpanzees, stop breeding of chimpanzees for invasive research and retire the approximately 500 government-owned chimpanzees to the sanctuary they deserve.
The scientific, economic and ethical evidence has been mounting in recent years—all clearly pointing to the need to end invasive research on chimpanzees and move science forward. An Institute of Medicine report released in December concluded that the vast majority of biomedical research on chimpanzees is unnecessary and didn’t identify a single area of biomedical research that absolutely requires chimpanzee use. The IOM report has changed the dynamic on this issue and helped to build consensus for the policy of phasing out invasive research on chimps.
Dr. Martin Wasserman, a physician and former Maryland State Health Secretary testified in support of the bill today, and he emphasized the scientific advances that have rendered the use of chimpanzees unnecessary and the non-chimpanzee models that are more efficient and effective for advancing human health. We are grateful to Chairman Cardin for holding this important hearing, and to the other subcommittee members, especially Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who spoke in favor of the legislation and the need to protect approximately 200 chimpanzees housed at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in his state.
Chimpanzees, because of their size, long lifespan and special behavioral needs, are extremely expensive to use and maintain in a laboratory setting. So, why would we continue to spend money on research that isn’t necessary and on maintaining expensive government contracts with private companies to take care of the chimpanzees? For example, the government spends $4.5 million per year to maintain a group of approximately 175 chimpanzees who haven’t been used in 10 years. Sanctuaries are available and can provide superior care at a lower cost. Ending invasive chimpanzee research and retiring these animals to sanctuary would save the government $300 million over the next decade. With so many lawmakers concerned about the federal deficit and government waste, here’s an opportunity to save money and make government run better.
An undercover investigation into the world’s largest chimpanzee laboratory revealed chimpanzees isolated in small, steel cages for months at a time and psychologically disturbed animals, such as Sterling, who self-mutilated and was deemed ineligible for research yet remained in a concrete enclosure. Sadly, we recently learned that Sterling passed away and never got to live in a sanctuary where he could feel sunshine on his face and grass beneath his feet.
And remember those chimpanzees in the wild who were featured in Chimpanzee? There is a growing body of evidence that exploiting captive chimpanzees in the U.S. impacts the conservation of the species in the wild. And the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is currently considering The HSUS’s 2010 petition to protect all chimpanzees as endangered, no matter where they may be found.
We should be doing all that we can to protect chimpanzees in captivity and in the wild, and Congress now has an opportunity to do so. Take action and urge your lawmakers to pass this legislation, before time runs out for these special animals.
