GAP News: Pamela Anderson Asks Hollywood to End Ape Abuse

May 30, 2004

The orangutan, Clyde, used in Clint Eastwood's film, Any Which Way But Loose, was beaten to death by a club used by his “trainer.”

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Linda Furness

ApeAction

[ ApeAction @ aol.com ] (remove 2 spaces)

Pamela Anderson Asks Hollywood to End Ape AbuseMay 27, 2004USA NewswireHOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Actress Pamela Anderson is calling on Hollywood to end the use of apes in film and television, andhas personally vowed never to be a part of any production using live ape "actors." She is joined by fellow celebrities Alec Baldwin, TiffaniThiessen, Joanna Lumley, Christopher Lee, Ali MacGraw, Terrence McNally, Brooke Adams, Tippi Hedren, Jennifer Coolidge, Bob Barker, FrancesFisher and Wendie Malick."Chimpanzees used in ads and shows are all

babies, snatched from their mothers and made to perform silly tricks. I chose to be in the movies,but these poor animals didn't. I don't want to be a part of the cruelty," said Anderson.Anderson made the decision after hearing about the systematic abuse of chimpanzees at one of Hollywood's primary animal training facilities. Arecent investigation by the Chimpanzee Collaboratory -- a consortium of eight chimpanzee rights and welfare organizations that includes the Great Ape Project -- found that:Trainers may physically abuse chimpanzees for various reasons, but often for no reason at all.Current monitoring programs and animal welfare standards fail to adequately protect animal actors.Movies featuring chimpanzees performing complex stunts (riding a motorcycle, for example) continue to be made in Hollywood without the knowledge or consent of the very organization established to monitor the use of such animal "actors."Chimpanzees' acting careers normally end when they reach age 7 or 8, after which they often are transferred to substandard zoos and otherfacilities for their remaining years. Chubbs, a chimpanzee who appeared in Planet of the Apes, is now

languishing in a similar facility in Texas.Chimpanzee expert Dr. Jane Goodall, who is a member of the Chimpanzee Collaboratory, said, "Chimpanzees and other apes suffer horribly for society's entertainment. It is time to move beyond themisuse of creatures who are vulnerable to our exploitation precisely because they are so like us. We are asking Hollywood professionals tomake the right choice and remove themselves from this cruelty."For Anderson, the choice was easy: "A performing chimpanzee's life consists of about 7 years of being lugged around sets, then 40 years caged, often in solitary confinement. Chimpanzees just don't belong in

Hollywood," she said.For more information, please contact:

Sarah BaecklerCoordinatorChimpanzee Collaboratorywww.chimpcollaboratory.org sarah @ chimpcollaboratory.org (remove 2 spaces)

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