Vivisection chimps abandoned to starve

Blood centre abandoned chimps Liberia

Callous vivisectionists abandon their living tools to starve on Liberian islands

A Twitter storm of protest erupted the other day. It involved the New York Blood Centre (NYBC) and a large family group of chimpanzees in Liberia who have been used in vivisection experiments over the last thirty years, and who have now been abandoned to die in the delta mouth of a river near where they once lived in the research laboratory.

The animals, which were used as laboratory tools, were ‘retired’ in 2002 when the experiments stopped. Totally unable to fend for themselves or survive without human input in the wild, the chimpanzees were relocated to an almost barren, tiny group of islands which are too far away from the mainland for the chimps to swim. NYBC provided money for their wellbeing until March 2015 when that funding stopped. Although some animal welfare groups stepped in to help, the money is now drying up and the chimps are threatened with starvation and dehydration as there is no source of food or fresh water on their islands other than what is provided for them by humans.

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The NYBC, who infected these chimps for decades with deadly diseases like hepatitis and others, promised to pay for their upkeep for the remainder of their lives. But now, after using and abusing them in vivisection labs, and in spite of their assets running into hundreds of millions of dollars, this callous and unethical organisation has turned its back on the chimps saying they are the responsibility of the Liberian government.

Doctor Brian Hare, an anthropologist and primatologist at Duke University notes, “Never, ever have I seen anything even remotely as disgusting as this.”

Kathleen Conlee, Vice President for animal research at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) says “Our long-term goal is to provide these chimpanzees with true sanctuary. You cannot just use chimps like this and just abandon them and get away with it.”

Most of the chimpanzees were bred in captivity, but some were captured from the wild. It has been reported that botched sterilisation of the animals has led to some births on the islands. This heart-breaking and unethical situation is being monitored by a collection of conservationists, including the Jane Goodall Institute and Born Free Foundation. Without this help, the sixty or so chimps will most certainly die. They are existing at the moment on a reduced feeding schedule paid for by rapidly dwindling emergency donations.

The Charities have launched a Go Fund Me page and a petition asking people to sign and send letters to NYBC asking them to re-establish their lifesaving support.

A recent visit to NYBC by Dr Hare, who went to ask for clemency for the chimps and to present a petition with over 200,000 signatures, ended when NYBC locked its doors and refused to speak to him. There has been no communication whatsoever despite Dr Hare leaving the petition in NYBCs doorway.

Below are the links to the petition and a contact form to write to NYBC about your concerns. There is also a link to the FaceBook page where you can find updates on the plight of the chimpanzees.

http://nybloodcenter.org/about-us/contact-us/
 https://www.change.org/p/new-york-blood-center-don-t-abandon-chimpanzees-for-whom-you-promised-to-provide-lifetime-care/u/11494492
https://www.facebook.com/abandonedchimps/