Sanctuary to fight return of chimps to Texas

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Sanctuary to fight return of chimps to Texas

Texas group decries appeal as a waste of 'court's time and money.'

 

March 20, 2008

KEITHVILLE -- Sounds of nature echo in the woods of southwest Caddo,

where more than 140 chimpanzees revel but some soon may roil in

controversy.On

the other side of a protective fence Wednesday, actors and crew members

in the Jack Black movie "The Year One" used the woods not far from

Keithville to film as the Chimp Haven board decided to fight a Texas

judge's order to cast six of the chimps from their garden and back into

a sanctuary in Bexar County, Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

"We will fight for the welfare of the chimpanzees that were rescued

from a Texas facility in 2006," Dr. Linda Brent, Chimp Haven president

and director, said Wednesday. "Last Friday, we filed a motion for a new

trial in the case in which Primarily Primates sued Chimp Haven for the

return of these chimpanzees."When

asked by the Texas attorney general's office to care for the chimps,

she said, Chimp Haven agreed to provide space for the animals."It's

with the same concern for the chimpanzees' welfare that we have decided

to fight the court's decision to return the chimpanzees to the facility

where they endured such difficulties."The chimps, known as the "Keithville Krewe," are Sarah, 47, Sheba, 26, Keeli, 10, Ivy, 11, Harper, 8, and Emma, 7."The

Keithville Krewe is flourishing and happy," Brent added Wednesday.

"Forcing them to leave their home at Chimp Haven is counter to their

best interests and their welfare."It's been difficult for them

because all three of the adult males that were in this original group

of nine passed away, two at Primarily primates and just recently

Darrell," she said. Darrell, one of the adult males, died Jan. 4 of

reasons still being investigated.The group has met and befriended other chimps and has grown acclimated to the area and the weather, Brent said."Chimp

Haven has stepped forward to help these chimps in need, and we will not

turn our back on them now. Our only goal has been to ensure the best

future for the chimpanzees."The chimpanzees were brought to

Chimp Haven in November 2006 after Primarily Primates, a San Antonio

facility, was seized by the Texas attorney general's office on

allegations of mismanagement of charitable funds and animals living in

substandard conditions.First there were nine chimps, but two of the adult males died before coming to Chimp Haven. Then Darrell died.Chimp

Haven had requested that Primarily Primates agree to an independent

third-party assessment of what would be in the best interest of the

chimps, Brent said. But Primarily Primates would not agree, she said.Priscilla

Feral, president of Connecticut-based Friends of Animals, which merged

with Primarily Primates and now operates the Texas facility, explained

why."We have a chimpanzee expert on site — our full-time

veterinarian, Dr. Valerie Kirk," she said. "Dr. Kirk wants the

chimpanzees returned to Primarily Primates. Who is the mystery person

offered by Chimp Haven who should interfere at this stage? Chimp Haven

is wasting the court's time and money on this."Brent disagrees,

citing the chimps' state of mind, especially after the deaths of adults

who were part of an original group of nine chimps sent to Primarily

Primates from a research project in Ohio.The chimps, Brent

said, "are doing so well here physically and socially and are in a

group where the youngsters have adult role models and the older females

have companions. It would surely be detrimental to them to be moved

again after all they have endured."In April, the Texas attorney

general's office settled the case against Primarily Primates, which

later sued Chimp Haven for return of the chimps, claiming the transfer

of the primates was temporary. In February, Texas 285th District Judge

Michael Peden granted Primarily Primates' motion for a summary judgment

to send the six chimpanzees back to San Antonio.The Texas

sanctuary folks are eager to see their charges return home. "It is in

the best interest of the chimpanzees to return them to Primarily

Primates," Feral said."These six chimpanzees came to Primarily

Primates out of research. Primarily Primates made a commitment to look

after them and to keep them in a permanent sanctuary that will be a

model for refuges around the world. We're offering a permanent,

private, respectful refuge which has a full-time veterinarian, an

expert in chimpanzee care."Chimp Haven, also known as The

National Chimpanzee Sanctuary, is 25 miles southwest of Shreveport in

Eddie D. Jones Nature Park. It welcomed its first residents in April

2005 and is home to 141 retired chimpanzees.Primarily Primates,

founded in 1978, acknowledges on its Web site that it restructured its

board in 2007 under an agreement with the Texas attorney general's

office and that a probate judge placed the sanctuary under control of a

receiver from October 2006 through April.But, Feral said,

"Chimp Haven works through a contract with federal agencies such as the

National Institutes of Health, which use chimpanzees in testing."Chimp

Haven stores apes who are expensive to keep in the lab. The government

has the public donate to Chimp Haven, which allows the government to

have more money for ape research. Thus, how important is it to support

private sanctuaries with no connection at all to public display or

research?"Feral said the Texas court has ordered that Chimp Haven pay Primarily Primates' attorneys' fees through every stage of appeal."Instead

of continuing to litigate, Chimp Haven should let these chimpanzees get

on with their lives and be returned to their permanent refuge as soon

as possible."Brent would not say how far she and her board are prepared to go in their appeals."Where

it goes from here is hard to say. At this point, we just hope courts

and the judges at the district court level do what's right for the

chimps and consider their welfare."