Why Support Project R&R

Project R&R: Release and Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Laboratories, a campaign of NEAVS, successfully ended the use of chimpanzees in research and now works to retire them to sanctuary. NEAVS has long advocated that the scientific code of ethics for research must protect all species as it protects humans. Chimpanzees, acknowledged as so “like us,” are the species uniquely positioned to lead the way.

NEAVS’ devoted leadership, strategic planning, scientific research, and dedication to Project R&R, along with the groundswell of the national effort that has been inspired, has prevailed in getting the first non-human species out of research—and we must now ensure that all former laboratory chimpanzees live out their remaining days in sanctuary.

From the beginning

In 2004, the precedent setting work of NEAVS/Project R&R laid the foundation to end outmoded, unproductive, and unreliable research that uses chimpanzees in insufferable procedures. After having completed the heavy lift of our research, introducing legislation and meeting scientific debate with winning arguments against the necessity or usefulness of chimpanzees for human health, Project R&R’s subsequent strategies continued to support the campaign. 

On June 16, 2015, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced it would give the same endangered status and protections to chimpanzees held in captivity as it does their free-living relatives in Africa. FWS Director, Dan Ashe, admits the split-listing had been a “mistake.” The decision reverses a decades-long policy that contributed to the inhumane and wasteful use of chimpanzees in biomedical research.

On November 17, 2015, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it would no longer support biomedical research on chimpanzees and that it would also no longer maintain a colony of 50 chimpanzees for possible future. All NIH-owned chimpanzees were deemed eligible for retirement.

Leadership

NEAVS’ leadership rests on expert opinion to generate key arguments, effective strategies and targeted campaigns against vivisection. Many of NEAVS’ Board of Directors hold doctoral degrees in their professions and each member brings decades of experience in animal protection. NEAVS’ Advisory Board includes individuals from law, veterinary medicine, toxicology and other specialties that provide insight in support of our mission. NEAVS’ Medical Advisory Board counsels us on all related medical issues, as gleaned from their education, training and experience. Finally, our specialized Project R&R Advisory Board is a line-up of U.S. and world experts on chimpanzees.  

NEAVS is fully committed to accountability. In 2014, we spent 77% of our budget on programs. By keeping overhead to a minimum, your donations have the greatest benefit for the animals we serve. Your donations for Project R&R have supported, and continue to support, ongoing initiatives to end chimpanzee research, provide sanctuary, and help fund our mission to end the use of all animals in all research, testing, and education.

Our commitment

We work for the sake of the animals and for the benefit of humans who are waiting for treatments, preventive medicine, and cures. NEAVS works to replace outmoded animal research and testing with ethically, humanely, and scientifically superior alternatives.

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