Action Alerts

Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act

2011-11-08T19:15:00+00:00

Approximately 1,065 chimpanzees are living in six research laboratories in the United States. Some have been confined in labs for up to 50 years. At any given time, the vast majority are not involved in active research protocols—instead they are languishing, warehoused at taxpayers’ expense. According to the National Institutes of Health, the cost to U.S. taxpayers for chimpanzee research and maintenance is more than $60 million per year. The entire European Union, along with Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, have already banned or severely restricted the use of chimpanzees in invasive research. The United States is the only remaining developed nation in the world still using chimpanzees in invasive research.

The Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act will give chimpanzees—our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom—a humane retirement, while freeing up taxpayer money that should be spent more wisely. For a single chimpanzee, lifetime care in a research facility can cost over $1 million, compared with $340,000 for superior care in a sanctuary. Ending invasive research will mean a savings of more than $20 million per year for the American people.

Please join us in our effort by contacting your representatives and senators through our automated letter to encourage their sponsorship of the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act.

FWS Listing for Captive Chimpanzees

2011-09-14T19:06:19+00:00

NEAVS, along with other organizations, filed a petition headed by HSUS with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) requesting that the agency “uplist” the status of captive chimpanzees from threatened to endangered. FWS agreed to review the request: “Based on our review, we find that the petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing all chimpanzees as endangered may be warranted.”

The Endangered Species Act protects wildlife and promotes conservation, but captive chimpanzees who are only listed as threatened are deprived of protections afforded their free-living kin, who are listed as endangered. Captive U.S. chimpanzees are used in entertainment, invasive research, and are kept as exotic pets.

The petition states, "It is clear that exploitation of this species for biomedical purposes has not positively benefitted chimpanzees in captivity or in the wild…and undermines chimpanzee conservation." The petition further argues that this unusual split listing is "scientifically unjustifiable."

The organizations behind the petition include the New England Anti-Vivisection Society, the Humane Society of the United States, the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, the Jane Goodall Institute, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, the Fund for Animals, and the Humane Society International.

FWS' decision to review the status of captive chimpanzees allows for public comment. Please, it is essential they hear from you!

Take action by filling in the automated form in the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Type in a search for endangered chimpanzees and follow the instructions for submitting statements to DOCKET NO. [FWS-R9-ES-2010-0086]
You can submit your comments in your own words or borrow from the suggested language below.
________________________________________
To The Fish and Wildlife Service:
RE: DOCKET NO. [FWS-R9-ES-2010-0086]
I fully support increasing protections for captive chimpanzees by granting them endangered status. This is a vital step to promote their conservation and protect them from continued exploitation in the United States. I am most grateful that the FWS has initiated this review under the Endangered Species Act.
Please take action to help increase protection of captive chimpanzees so that their exploitation doesn't continue. Federal action is necessary to demonstrate to the rest of the world that the U.S. is dedicated to the protection, care, and conservation of this species.

Sincerely,

Your name
Address
City, State, Zip

U.S. Primate Importation

2011-08-29T18:40:03+00:00

A recent investigation carried out in Cambodia by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) has revealed severe cruelty and suffering during capture, handling, and trade of primates destined for the research industry. The investigation focused on the long-tailed macaque, a protected species listed in Appendix II of CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species).

The Cambodian government is allowing what appears to be a largely unregulated and rapidly expanding international trade in macaques, resulting in indiscriminate and widespread trapping. The investigation showed that despite the establishment of captive breeding programs, monkeys are being taken from the wild in large numbers to replenish the breeding populations.

The U.S. is one of the largest importers of monkeys for research from Cambodia. In addition to the profound humane and ethical considerations regarding their use in research, the U.S. government needs to take seriously the species' protected status and the effect that this cruel and prolific trade is having on them.

Our Responsibility

"Until we stop importing monkeys for U.S. research, our government is guilty of supporting what would amount to civil rights violations if our genetic cousins were human. The U.S. scientific community must end its self-serving interest which creates a moral blind spot in what we allow other countries to do with and to their indigenous wildlife. NEAVS joins BUAV's efforts with nothing short of full commitment to this important campaign."

—Theodora Capaldo, Ed.D., NEAVS president

TAKE ACTION

Write to U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. CITES authority, and ask them to stop the importation of Cambodian macaques into the U.S.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Division of CITES Management Authority
4401 N. Fairfax Drive
Room 212
Arlington, VA 22203-3247
USA

email: managementauthority@fws.gov
Write to the Cambodian Ambassador to the U.S. and ask him to urge his government to place an immediate ban on the capture, breeding, and export of long-tailed macaques destined for the research industry.
His Excellency Mr. EK Sereywath
Ambassador
Royal Embassy of Cambodia
4530 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20011

Watch the undercover footage

"Appallingly, the monkeys were even hunted inside a nature reserve in Cambodia—supposedly a place of safety. The hunters used catapults and beat the tree trunks with oars to scare the monkeys out of the trees and drive them into nets. Then screaming in terror, or rigid with fear, these highly intelligent creatures were grabbed by their tails, stuffed into bags and stored in the bottom of a boat before being sold to a dealer of a monkey farm."

—BUAV

Bear Bile Farming and Eastern Medicine

2011-07-26T12:19:36+00:00

On bear bile farms throughout Asia, Asiatic black bears—commonly known as moon bears because of the crescent-shaped marking on their chests—are imprisoned and slowly dying for the sake of traditional Eastern medicine.

Highly endangered, with only an estimated 16,000 remaining in the wild, some 10,000–13,000 of them are kept in tiny metal cages to have bile crudely extracted from their gall bladders, usually through either an implanted steel catheter or free-dripping holes in their abdomens.

Bile extraction is daily agony for the bears, who can survive for up to 20 years in coffin-like “crush cages.” They develop stereotypic behavior, banging their heads repeatedly against the bars, gnawing them until their teeth are broken, and even growing into the cage bars. Many are missing limbs or paws due to the trauma or to snares used to capture them.

Groups like the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) are working effectively throughout Asia to close bile farms. They have already rescued and provided sanctuary for over 300 moon bears, and shut down 43 bile farms for good. Their sanctuary in China includes a bear enclosure funded entirely by NEAVS.

Over 50 herbal and synthetic alternatives to bear bile are readily available. As public awareness grows, there has been growing clamor from the Chinese people to end this cruel practice. In fact, according to AAF, “20 of China's 31 provinces have become proudly bear farm-free.”

But now there's a possible setback to this progress: on February 16th, one of the largest bear bile farms in China, the Gui Zhen Tang Pharmaceutical Company, announced plans to expand their farming operation by seeking approval from the Fujian Securities Regulatory Committee to publicly list their business in the stock exchange. The investment money generated by the listing would allow the company to increase production by adding over 700 more moon bears to their farm.

The company's plans have led to an outpouring of public opposition within China.

An online petition to end bear farming generated over 92,000 signatures from Chinese citizens within a week.

NEAVS considers bile farms for the sake of human “medicinal use” a form of vivisection that must end. While we support traditional Eastern medicine, we draw a line when it involves ancient practices that cause suffering or the demise of animals.

Help us show our solidarity with the 92,000 Chinese signatories who are speaking out against these outdated and cruel practices in their country.

Click here to sign our automated letter.

Contact Ambassador Zhang Yesui at the U.S. Chinese Embassy. Thank him for the work of the Chinese people to end bear farming in their country and ask him for his support of these efforts within China.

Chinese Embassy Chancery
Ambassador Zhang Yesui
3505 International Place, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008

Email: chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn

Dear Supporter,

While citizens and organizations are working hard in China and other countries to end bile farming, we need to do our part in the U.S., Europe, and other “consumer” countries where a market for traditional Eastern medicines also exists.

Some formulas may contain cruelly-obtained animal parts or derivatives, some illegally so from endangered species banned from commerce. Please take a moment to become an educated consumer who can Recognize, Reject, and Report any products that contain illegal species ingredients. Then go a step further and reject all formulas that include any animal ingredients—endangered species or not.

If you practice alternative medicine, spread the word to your colleagues. If you are treated by an alternative health practitioner, bring one of our free 3 R's posters with you to your next appointment.

Let's not let ignorance of this issue make anyone an accidental contributor to the suffering!

Sincerely,

Theodora Capaldo, Ed.D.
President
NEAVS

To learn more visit http://www.animalsasia.org/.

End Airline Transportation of Primates for Research

2011-07-12T19:33:47+00:00

Primates Suffer in Cargo Transport

Airlines transport primates packed into small wooden crates to research facilities worldwide, including to the U.S. Some die in transport because of the deplorable conditions of being shipped as cargo. Others endure and survive only to reach a cruel fate in research.

A recent report from BUAV cited 11 airlines that continue to transport primates. They found that Air France ships to Covance Clinical Research Units in the USA; Air Canada ships primates from China to labs in Canada; and China Southern and Eastern airlines transport them to the U.S.

During flights, the primates endure delays, poor ventilation, noise and dangerous temperature fluctuations on their extremely long journeys. The anxiety and stress they suffer can lead to increased susceptibility to infection. Documents obtained by BUAV provide a disturbing insight into how these animals suffer.

The following reported incidences illustrate the pain and suffering endured by the primates:

‘On uncrating, he was found in moribund condition. Part of the wooden crate had been chewed away and no food was present in the crate. The primate died while IV fluids were being administered.’

‘One animal died during transport from Vietnam. The animal was removed in Paris at the airport; the cause of death was reportedly from … [the build-up of gas in the intestinal tract]

‘One animal imported from Mauritius was dead on arrival.’

Conditions that resulted in the death or euthanasia of primates (during the quarantine period) imported into the USA during 2009 included pneumonia, enteritis, gastroenteritis, dehydration, weight loss, poor body condition and infection.

NEAVS is calling on supporters to contact airlines listed below to request that they cease involvement in primate transport and implement an immediate ban on the transportation of primates for research.

Suggested letter text

I am shocked to learn that your airline has, is or would be involved in the international transportation of primates to laboratories. It is inhumane and unacceptable that living animals are packed into small crates and shipped like cargo only to end up in laboratories where they will suffer or die in experiments.

I urge you to join the increasing number of airlines that have stopped their involvement in this money making cruelty and instead refuse to be a part of the trade in living animals for profit and research. Until you do, I will not be flying with your airline.

Sincerely,

Your name

__________________

Send to

Air Canada
Air Canada Centre
Fax: +44 (0) 208 750 8495
Email: acexecutive.hautedirectionac@aircanada.ca and aircanada_customercare_en@mailca.custhelp.com

American Airlines
Gerard J. Arpey, Chairman
Fax: +44 (0)20 8745 1469
Email: Customer.Relations@aa.com
LiveAnimals.Cargo@aa.com
contactus@aacargo.com

Continental Airlines
Fax: +44 (0)1293 567122
Email: corpcomm@coair.com

Other Airlines

Air China
Email: info@cacargo.co.uk

Air France
Email: customer-service.LHR@klmcargo.com

Caribbean Airlines
Email: cto.uk@caribbean-airlines.com

China Eastern Airlines
Email: saleslondon@chinaeastern.co.uk

China Southern Airlines
Email: csnib@csair.com and ecsupport@csair.com

Philippine Airlines
Email: corpcomms@pal.com.ph

Vietnam Airlines
Email: cargo@vietnamair.com.vn

NEAVS thanks you for your ongoing support to end animal cruelty in research.