The use of chimpanzees in biomedical research in the United States is at a crossroads. After careful study of the issue by both the Institute of Medicine and the Council of Councils, the National Institutes of Health  (NIH) will soon determine the future of chimpanzees used in NIH-supported research. You can help chimpanzees by sharing your input by Saturday, March 23, 2013.
The NIH is seeking public comment on the recommendations within the report of the Council of Councils Working Group on the Use of Chimpanzees in NIH-Supported Research. The report itself may be found athttp://dpcpsi.nih.gov/council/working_group.aspx

The NIH is asking for public input on all 28 individual recommendations within the report. Comments may be made on all or some of the recommendations, and overall comments may also be made. Save the Chimps encourages its supporters to provide feedback in their own words in the “Overall Comments” section.

 

Save the Chimps supports the vast majority of the recommendations within the Working Group report, with the exception of the recommendation that a small population of chimpanzees be maintained in a laboratory for research. All chimpanzees should be retired to professional sanctuaries, and the NIH should provide funding for the chimps’ retirement.

 

To Submit Comments:

STEP ONE:

Visit http://grants.nih.gov/grants/rfi/rfi.cfm?ID=31

 

STEP TWO:

Enter your name and email address.

 

STEP THREE:

Scroll to the bottom of the page. Enter your comments in the “Overall Comments” box. Please note that you are limited to 3,000 characters and spaces. Enter the security code provided at the end of the survey, and submit your comments by clicking “Save Survey.”

Please feel free to use the following talking points as a guideline:

Encourage the NIH to accept all recommendations that require improved living conditions for chimpanzees and recognize that chimpanzees are social beings who require complex and spacious environments with multiple companions, a varied diet, nesting materials, enrichment, and compassionate caregivers.

State your support for retiring all NIH-owned and NIH-supported chimpanzees to professional sanctuaries. Indicate that you do not wish the NIH to keep a reserve population of chimpanzees in a laboratory for research purposes.

Ask the NIH to direct funding that is currently spent on the housing and care of chimpanzees in laboratories to professional sanctuaries. If the chimpanzees remained in labs, the NIH would continue to pay for their care. The funds for the chimpanzees’ lifetime care should be redirected to sanctuaries.

TakeAction

Thank you for your concern and compassion for chimpanzees!