NIRC: Retire Privately Owned Chimpanzees Now

August 27, 2013 • Posted in Action Alerts

Despite the National Institutes of Health (NIH) retiring all federally owned chimpanzees, the New Iberia Research Center (NIRC) in New Iberia, Louisiana still houses a large number of privately owned chimpanzees who they have not yet scheduled for retirement.

Candy
Candy, a Chimp Haven sanctuary resident from NIRC (Chimp Haven)

NIRC and other labs are fighting to hold on to the millions in funding they have received for decades to simply house and maintain chimpanzees—even though all the while, their actual use in research was rapidly dwindling or nonexistent (read about other labs and send additional letters to them here).

Take Action

Please write to University of Louisiana at Lafayette President Dr. Joseph Savoie and ask him to retire all privately owned NIRC chimpanzees (UL Lafayette operates NIRC). It will only take you seconds with this form.

If you prefer, you can use the language below and send to this address:

President Joseph Savoie, EdD
Martin Hall 257
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
104 E. University Circle
Lafayette, LA 70503
president@louisiana.edu
337-482-6203

Dr. Savoie

It's time to close the chimpanzee program at the New Iberia Research Center (NIRC). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is retiring all federally owned chimpanzees, which includes more than 100 federally owned chimpanzees from NIRC. But according to data from a 2011 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, there will remain more than 200 privately owned chimpanzees at your lab.

With recent reports and decisions, the NIH and the IOM have acknowledged what science has known for years—chimpanzees are not viable models for studying human disease (published papers on the topic can be found at releasechimps.org/resources/science-papers). The need for funding or keeping chimpanzees for research has come to the end. Please help the United States retire ALL privately owned NIRC chimpanzees.

Dr. Savoie, I am appealing to you to take the lead and commit your institution to modern and compassionate science in all its endeavors. This can and must start by releasing all your chimpanzees to sanctuary today!

Sincerely,
Your Name

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