Chimps Incorporated, a nonprofit organization in Oregon, must be stopped from moving seven chimpanzees to a research facility where they would likely be subjected to cognitive and behavioral experimentation.

Chimps Inc., founded by Lesley Day in 1995 and managed by her for 22 years, created a shit-storm after complaints by animal care staff led to Oregon OSHA imposed fines against the management team.  The evidence of negligence and misfeasance uncovered in this investigation was both overwhelming and directly attributable to Ms. Day’s failure to follow her sanctuary’s protocols.

In response to these findings, Ms. Day had her access to the chimpanzees removed by the nonprofit’s Board of Directors.  This action was the opening salvo in an ongoing battle over the future of the nonprofit and the animals it’s entrusted to care for. And the conflict recently reached a boiling point over Day’s threat to evict the nonprofit, and the Board’s threat to transfer the seven chimps in their care to the Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative (AACI), a research facility in Iowa.

We stand with the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) and the newly formed nonprofit organization Freedom for Great Apes (FFGA), both of whom have attempted to work toward an amicable solution to this crisis. Keeping the seven chimps in their current sanctuary location and putting in place rigorous safety and welfare standards puts the interests of these animals first.

Most importantly, animals that make it to sanctuary should never be moved to a research facility.

We can’t let this happen. Sign our petition telling the Chimps Inc. Board of Directors to keep these animals in an accredited sanctuary facility. Thank you!