Programs & Campaigns
Action Alert!
NEAVS' Experts and Advisory Board Members
Blast 'Race to Space' Distributor
What YOU Can Do
Contact Lions Gate Films, the distributor of "Race to
Space," and object to the film’s use of trained chimpanzees.
The movie, which opened in Dallas/Ft. Worth (3/16/02), will
probably go direct to video but may seek additional screenings
around the country.
Please write to Lions Gate Films, telling
them you will NOT patronize a film using chimpanzee "actors."
Mr. John Feltheimer, CEO
Lions Gate Films
4553 Glencoe Avenue, Suite 200
Marina Del Ray, CA 90292
Also, please write to the headquarters of Blockbuster
Video and Suncoast Video, asking
them NOT to purchase this film for rental.
Mr. John Antioco, President
Blockbuster Video
1201 Elm St.
Dallas, TX 75270
(214) 854-3000
Mr. Kevin Freeland, President
Suncoast Video
10400 Yellow Circle Dr.
Minnetonka, MN 55343
(952) 931-8100
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Experts and advisory board members of the New
England Anti Vivisection Society (NEAVS) have contacted on 3/19/02
Lions Gate Films, the distributor of the movie "Race
to Space," objecting to the film’s use of trained chimpanzees.
The film, which tells the story of the "Space Chimps," uses
a chimpanzee named Tyler as its leading "actor."
"Race to Space" opened 3/16/02
in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. NEAVS is urging the distributor not
to screen the film around the country. Says Dr. Theo Capaldo, NEAVS’
President, "NEAVS wants to make sure the film doesn’t ‘blast
off’ from Dallas. Fortunately, it’s already a dud."
Opposed to the
Use of Animals in "Entertainment"
NEAVS, which is opposed to the use
of animals in "entertainment," is reminding the "Race
to Space" distributor that
- Performing chimpanzees are "children"
who have been stolen from their mothers in order to be trained
to perform in television, movies or other forms of entertainment;
- Training methods often include some form
of punishment, fear or deprivation;
- The "acts" chimpanzees perform
are unnatural and often painful, e.g., chimpanzees do not normally
walk upright and their so-called "smile" is really a
grimace of fear;
- Performing chimpanzees who have grown
too big or too strong to be easily controlled are often sold to
vivisection laboratories for experimentation.
For example, at the Fauna
Foundation, an animal sanctuary in Canada, several of the
rescued chimps who were formerly biomedical research subjects
have histories
of use in the entertainment industry. Donna Rae was used for
12 years in entertainment and then for 19 years in research. Pablo
spent nine years in entertainment, then 16 years in research.
Sue Ellen
spent 15 years in entertainment, then 15 years in research.
Board Members Speak
Out
NEAVS’ Advisory Board members and co-founders of the Chimpanzee
and Human Communication Institute, Dr. Roger and Deborah Fouts,
remark that "the use of chimpanzees in films is unethical;
unnecessary; and not entertainment. Increasingly, the general public
knows this and is not patronizing films using chimpanzee actors.
Now it is time for producers to understand this and stop making
films that exploit our ‘next of kin.’"
Dr. Carole Noon, Director of the Center
for Captive Chimpanzee Care in Ft. Pierce, Florida, agrees.
Noon, whose sanctuary houses 21 of the former Air Force chimps whom
the movie purports to be about, says, "Forty years ago, Jane
Goodall started studying chimpanzees in Africa right around the
time Ham and the others were being captured by the Air Force. Since
then, we have found out that chimpanzees, like humans, have emotions
that in ourselves we describe as joy, sadness, loneliness and fear.
Neither the Air Force nor the entertainment industry has evolved
one iota given this new information."
Other NEAVS Campaigns
NEAVS, a 107-year-old anti-vivisection
organization based in Boston, opposes the use of chimpanzees in
experiments and in entertainment. A NEAVS campaign to expose
the connection between the two—"From
Boob Tube to Test Tube"—is letting the public know the
cruel fate of many performing chimps. Says Capaldo, "Hollywood
uses young chimpanzees as "actors" because they are cute
and easy to handle. But when they are older, these same chimpanzee
"stars" are dumped, often to research laboratories where
they live horrible lives and often die painful deaths." NEAVS
is working to expose the reality that exploitation is not entertainment,
and that vivisection laboratories are not appropriate retirement
homes for animal "actors."
Says Capaldo, "NEAVS is not only calling
on Lions Gate Films but on ALL
producers and advertisers nation-wide to stop using chimpanzees
in ‘entertainment.’"
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