From Adam Roberts, Animal Welfare Institute
Washington DC
Your brief news item does not do justice to the historical impact of
forthcoming decisions regarding the peaceful “retirement” of chimpanzees
currently warehoused in experimentation facilities across the US
(This Week, 26 July, p 7).
The long-term care of chimpanzees is an important responsibility that the
government and biomedical research community must share. In this case, animal
protection organisations nationwide have joined to form the National Chimpanzee
Research Retirement Task Force to add to the debate their enormous expertise in
animal wellbeing and innovative ideas on chimpanzee care.
Many of the ideas posited by the task force are embraced by the US National
Research Council report. Possibly the most important is the acknowledgment that
the similarity between chimpanzees and humans “implies a moral responsibility
for long-term care of chimpanzees that are used for our benefit in scientific
research”.
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Contrary to your analysis, the report does not vaguely advocate putting these
intelligent, long-lived animals “up for adoption by zoos and game reserves”, but
instead “enthusiastically supports the principle of retiring chimpanzees not
needed for research or breeding to a low-cost, high-quality life”. This is the
very “sanctuary” concept that the task force has recommended.
Such a sanctuary would be a permanent partnership between public and private
expertise that seeks optimal wellbeing for its inhabitants. Chimpanzees’
physical health and psychological welfare will be met as animals can be in pair
or group settings, devoid of the chronic distress and abnormal behaviours that
come with years of confinement in laboratory cages. A national sanctuary will
provide an immeasurable opportunity for social enrichment and ongoing cognitive
development.
