USA Still Cages Chimpanzees

It may, or may not, come as a surprise to people that America is the last nation in the world still using chimpanzees in invasive experiments. Although just about every other country in the world has banned or restricted research on great apes, the USA stubbornly continues to perform experiments on caged chimpanzees, the closest living animal relatives to humans.

In an article written by Sarah Baeckler from Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest and Debra Durham, a primatologist and ethologist with Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, published in the Vancouver Sun, the two experts detail the ugly reality of American experiments on chimpanzees including how American laboratories are allowed to keep the chimps in cages the size of kitchen tables, depriving them of social contact with others of their species and retain them for a lifetime of experimentation – some of the chimpanzees have been in cages more than 50 years.

The way to move forward is for the USA to quickly phase out invasive chimpanzee experiments. Currently, there is a Great Ape Protection bill in the House of Representatives that would put an end to the outdated and inhumane chimpanzee experiments.

Baeckler and Durham explain, “The bill has strong support from both political parties, 142 U.S. representatives have signed on as co-sponsors. The long list of supporters means the bill is more likely to get the attention it deserves, but it still needs more co-sponsors, and it needs a companion bill in the Senate”.

Visit: http://www.chimpsanctuarynw.org/

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