R&R E-News

November 2008


Help pass GAPA.
Thank you Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Michael Doyle (D-PA) for coming aboard as new GAPA consponsors!
For information on volunteering or to order postcards to distribute and send to your legislator, email: releasechimps@neavs.org

Update: Election 2008 and the Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA)
Reviewing the impact of election results on the Great Ape Protection Act (GAPA), we are pleased to report that only 3 GAPA cosponsor/congressional seats have changed (MD, CT, and ME). Outreach to them has already begun. We anticipate that all of the current cosponsors will sign on again in '09 when the bill is reintroduced. Future President and Vice President elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden both have excellent humane score cards as senators. We trust that their commitment to a kind world for animals will continue.

As we close 2008 and move into 2009, we remain focused on growing the list of cosponsors - and keeping those currently on - engaged. Thank you to those who have helped or are considering helping by handing out GAPA postcards, posting flyers, and putting our banner ad on weblogs and websites! YOUR support and efforts are key to our success!

Volunteers Make a Difference

2008 was a high point in our volunteer efforts as more people from across the country committed to working with NEAVS/Project R&R and GAPA, giving their time and energy to help educate the public on chimpanzees in U.S. labs.

Our most recent local event was our annual Holiday Volunteer Night. Volunteers created enrichment packages and cut blankets to send to sanctuaries with monkeys and chimpanzees from research. The volunteers had fun, but not as much as our cousin primates will when they recieve the bundles. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers for taking the time to help the monkeys and chimpanzees and make NEAVS' holiday tradition a joy and success!

This holiday season, please consider a year end donation and help make it possible for us to continue our work to help animals in and from research.
Top: Julie, Harry (our helpful 4th grader!) and Tammy
Bottom: Sennea and Arnaldo give a smile and thumbs up

Update on European Union Laws

Renewed attention has been placed on the proposed revisions - Directive EC86/609/EEC - for the EU’s laboratory animal welfare laws.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas recently stressed the importance of finding more non-animal alternatives in order to stop testing on animals. The BUAV notes that "it is absolutely important to steer away from testing on animals. Scientific research must focus on finding alternative methods to animal testing, but where alternatives are not available, the situation of animals still used in experiments must be improved." Specific revisions supported by the BUAV include a ban on the use of great apes and ‘wild-caught’ monkeys in research, as well as a call towards ending the overall use of nonhuman primates in experiments.

BUAV and NEAVS have a strong collaboration and shared vision for primates worldwide. We ask all members to take a moment to view their important film: Cambodia: The Trade for Primates in Research.

Compassionate Holiday Shopping!

Visit NEAVS and Project R&R online stores to find a variety of unique and important gifts including books, DVDs, magnets, buttons, t-shirts, and more!

NEW! 2009 limited edition Fauna/Tom Calendar
Fauna has donated a limited number of their beautiful and educational 12-month calendars featuring Tom Project R&R's chimpanzee ambassador in his daily activities at Fauna. Come to know him through the eyes of the special folks at the sanctuary who care for him. Learn about his favorite food (oatmeal with baked apples!), his paintings, chimpanzee friends, media charisma, and other things that make him such a special part of all our lives.
To order, please email releasechimps@neavs.org (Calendar is $10, plus shipping - and can be shipped within the continental U.S.). Once our limited supply is SOLD OUT, you can order directly from Fauna by calling (450) 658-1844 or visiting faunafoundation.org


Use GoodShop and every time you shop at your favorite online store, a percentage of the sale goes to NEAVS/Project R&R! Just designate “New England Anti-Vivisection Society-NEAVS-Project R&R” as your charity, click on the store's logo from the GoodShop site, and then shop as you normally would. You'll get the same great prices, but every time you place an order, NEAVS gets a donation!


Miracles...

The holidays may be a time for miracles – but when it comes to getting animals out of laboratories, there are no miracle solutions: just hard work and strategic, effective campaigns.
Thanks to you, in 2008 we garnered the strong bipartisan leadership necessary to introduce GAPA in Congress; mobilized thousands of citizens nationwide to contact their legislators; and published breakthrough science papers which show that chimpanzees have repeatedly failed as a model in human disease research, and that the suffering they endure is cruel, lifelong and indefensible.

As the holidays approach, please remember that miracles are ours to make – through everyday hard work. Your tax-deductible, year-end donation will help our work continue in 2009 to lead the way to the miracle we seek: better health for humans and a more compassionate world for all species. Please donate today. Thank you for caring this holiday season and always!