Last week I attended a remarkable gathering. One which filled me in equal measures of awe, sadness, and hope. So much so, that I was compelled to write an op-ed piece to our daily newspaper. The article below was originally published in the Santa Fe New Mexican on Sunday, July 27, 2024.
Art, Advocacy, and the Fight to Save Alamogordo’s Chimps
Recently, I attended an extraordinary, must-see event. On World Chimpanzee Day, the Jen Tough Art Gallery in Eldorado at Santa Fe hosted a unique exhibit of collaborative artwork created between humans and chimps.
The humans involved included actors Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara. The chimps, mostly former inmates rescued from the primate research lab in Alamogordo are living the remainder of their lives at Save the Chimps, a primate sanctuary in Florida. However, 26 chimps remain in Alamogordo, held in limbo due to a bureaucratic loophole.
A federal judge ruled that the National Institute of Health must transfer these chimps to a sanctuary, but the institute will not comply. Our local nonprofit, Animal Protection New Mexico, is fighting a legal battle to free these chimps from their ongoing life of confinement.
Man’s and woman’s best friends, our beloved dogs, share approximately 84% of their DNA with humans. Chimps, on the other hand, share 98.7% of our DNA and are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. These highly intelligent creatures feel what we feel: sadness, empathy, joy. They have close and tender family bonds and love to play and form friendships with one another.
Humans and chimps even share creative impulses. Painting, like the artwork displayed at Jen’s gallery, is one of many activities offered at the Save the Chimps Sanctuary to help rehabilitate these creatures and allow them to live a more stress-free and normal life.
Imagine living your life in a medical research facility, confined in a concrete enclosure, purposely exposed to infectious diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV, and under the care of a facility renowned for its animal welfare violations and mismanagement. Our imaginations can only touch a fraction of the stress and fear these animals have endured over decades and the agony they have suffered. This is the reality for the chimps left in Alamogordo.
The crowd at the Jen Tough gallery was eclectic. It included art aficionados, journalists, animal advocates and even a retired doctor who, while in college, performed animal experiments at the Coulston Lab in Alamogordo, from where most of the chimp artists were rescued. For years, this man was haunted by the conditions in the concrete pens the chimps were forced to live in. It was a poignant moment when he bought a $1,500 painting as a way of making amends. All proceeds from the exhibit, which continues through Aug. 25, will go to the Save the Chimps Sanctuary.
If you think this issue, occurring in our backyard, is not worth your attention or feel this situation does not affect you, please know that as a taxpayer, you and I are contributing financially to the chimps’ continued captivity. It costs $129 per chimp, per day at Holloman Air Force Base where the chimps are being held. In contrast, it costs roughly $52 per chimp, per day at Save the Chimps — a humane and cost-effective solution.
How can you help? Write, email, or call NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, urging her to comply with the court’s ruling and transfer the chimps to the sanctuary immediately. (Dr. Monica Bertagnolli: monica.bertagnolli@nih.gov; 240-781-3300; 31 Center Drive, 31/118, Bethesda, MD, 20892.)
Or, support the cause by purchasing a unique piece of art from the exhibit, knowing that your contribution will help create a kinder future for these remarkable beings.
To read the original article in the Santa Fe New Mexican, please click Here!
Stay healthy & stay pawsitive,
Carlyn MDO 💜
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