Contact:Triana Romero
Director of Communications
Triana@savethechimps.org
772.429.2225
World Lab Animal Day is Sunday, April 24th
Save the Chimps, the world’s largest chimpanzee sanctuary, recognizes the day to remember the 700 chimpanzees remaining in labs.
Fort Pierce, Fla. (April 19, 2016) World Day For Animals In Laboratories or World Lab Animal Day was established in 1979. It is a day to remember and honor those animals who are awaiting retirement from research laboratories, as well as those who have found sanctuary.
Nearly 700 chimpanzees are still awaiting retirement from research labs. Where can chimpanzees who have been retired from labs go to live out their lives? Unable to survive in the wild, they need a place where they can thrive in companionship with other chimpanzees, naturalistic habitats, state-of-the-art veterinary care, and an enriching environment.
Save the Chimps is the world’s largest chimpanzee sanctuary. With help from generous supporters, Save the Chimps provides loving care, nutritious food, daily enrichment, and expert veterinary care to more than 250 chimpanzees.
In honor of World Lab Animal Day, we would like to introduce you to Indie, one of the 266 chimpanzees Save the Chimps rescued from the Coulston Foundation, a former biomedical research laboratory with extensive Animal Welfare Act violations in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Indie spent the first years of her life at the now-closed Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP) in New York state. She was immediately taken from her mother at birth, and at only four months old she endured her first open liver biopsy. She was placed in several studies during her time at LEMSIP, where she was isolated in a 5’ x 5’ x 7’ cage. LEMSIP closed its doors when Indie was 11 years old, and she was transferred to the Coulston Foundation. While at the Coulston Foundation, she was sedated daily, every other day, or weekly. By 1999 she was diagnosed with severe anemia. In 2001, Indie’s anemia became so severe that she had an emergency blood transfusion. Throughout her time at LEMSIP and Coulston, she experienced countless sedations, blood draws, and liver biopsies.
Indie now savors the joys of sanctuary life. She enjoys nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables daily, soft blankets to nest with every night, and a variety of enrichment to keep her mind active. Most importantly, Indie now enjoys the companionship of other chimpanzees – especially her best friend Cayenne. Indie is now living the peaceful and dignified retirement she deserves.
View videos of Indie enjoying companionship and sanctuary life »
