R&R Summer eNews

Summer eNews NEAVS/Project R&R on Capitol Hill Following the reintroduction of the Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326), NEAVS/Project R&R joined Fauna Foundation, Chimp Haven, and HSUS for a Congressional briefing (June 25th), which brought the plight of chimpanzees in U.S. labs front and center to Capitol Hill. The panel included two of the bill’s lead sponsors, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Ashley Wilson on behalf of Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY). The presentations made their mark, resulting in an increase in cosponsors. Read more... Hollywood Stars Support Great Ape Protection Act The stars are shining for the Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326) thanks to Hollywood's elite, who are signing Project R&R’s petitions and getting active! Most recently, Bones star Emily Deschanel personally wrote a letter to Rep. Waxman – chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, where the bill sits – and asked him to support the bill. A sincere THANK YOU to Ms. Deschanel and other celebrities who are using their public voice to help end research on chimpanzees! As of today, 61 representatives have signed onto the Great Ape Protection Act as cosponsors! Project R&R remains committed to the immediate release of all the elders to sanctuary. Project R&R Advisory Board Requests Immediate Release of Elders June's eAlert, sent to coincide with Wenka's 55th birthday, generated much interest in her well-being. Thank you to everyone who wrote to Emory University President Dr. James W. Wagner, expressing your concern for Wenka and the other elder chimpanzees, many of whom have been in a lab for more than 40 years. As promised, Project R&R’s Advisory Board is following with a letter to Dr. Wagner requesting their immediate release from Yerkes National Primate Research Center, part of Emory. Thank you to our Advisory Board, including prominent chimpanzee experts Gloria Grow, Dr. Jane Goodall, Deborah and Dr. Roger Fouts, Jennifer Feuerstein, April Truitt, Mike Seres, and others, for their support! Project R&R will deliver the petition to key U.S. legislators and other policy makers. Scientists Petition Launched Project R&R’s scientists online petition has launched! The petition asks members of the scientific and academic communities to voice their support for ending the use of chimpanzees for biomedical research and testing in the U.S. and providing them permanent retirement in sanctuary. If you are an MD, DO, DVM, DDS, DMD, RN, PsyD, PhD, EdD, etc., please sign on to this petition - and thank you for passing it along to colleagues asking them to do the same. NEAVS Advocates for Public Disclosure of Government Funds In July, NEAVS submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding proposed revisions to their “Financial Conflict of Interest” regulations for scientific research. The purpose of the regulations is to encourage objective, responsible, and transparent publicly funded research. NEAVS’ recommendations included expanding the definition of financial conflict of interest, disclosure requirements, and accountability; reporting financial conflicts of interests; and the nature of such conflicts. The revisions would enhance public disclosure and accountability from federal agencies and those receiving federal dollars. TAKE ACTION End Live Animal Use at Texas Tech Although over 90% of U.S. medical schools no longer use live animals for teaching purposes, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center continues to use live cats for medical training. Despite the availability of non-animal alternatives like CPR training manikins or other human-like simulators (used in training by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association and others), Texas Tech purchases lost and homeless cats from Odessa Animal Control to use in intubation training. The cats are then killed afterwards. Contact Texas Tech and ask for an end to live animal training labs. Ask them to replace them with non-animal alternatives, such as human-like manikins and simulators. John C. Baldwin, M.D. PRESIDENT'S OFFICE -- HSC 3601 4th Street Stop 6258 Lubbock, TX 79430 ph: 806-743-2900 email: john.baldwin@ttuhsc.edu

It's Not Too Late for AR2009 in Los Angeles!
Please forward widely: More people = More help for animals!

We're thrilled to announce that our Celebrity Animal Activist Awardee is a famous TV anchor. TV and film actresses Charlotte Ross and Elaine Hendrix will also be recognized at the Saturday night Awards Banquet. Get the tickets now!

The Final Program with speakers and new T-shirt designs are now online! See also our Fast Facts Overview page for quick answers to all your questions.

Pre-register online by July 12th or call 800-632-8688 for a printed badge and fast check-in. On-site registration (full, weekend or single day) is also available.

Limited exhibit space is still available at great rates.

Save money with our low-income discounts, conference staffing, discounted meals, free snacks and room-sharing options.

This year's event will be held at the Westin LAX, a magnificent convention hotel located at 5400 West Century Blvd (near LAX Airport, west of I-405), Los Angeles, CA.

Highlights include:

• 114 Sessions about animal abuse, organizing, tactics, and ideological discussions
• 97 Speakers from 60 groups representing assorted views on animal liberation tactics
• 90 FREE exhibits, Fri-Sun, 9am-6pm, featuring animal rights literature & vegan snacks
• 58 Videos documenting various types of animal abuse and activist campaigns
• Eyewitness Reports of Whale Wars & CA Prop 2 Campaign
• Celebrity and activists Awards at festive Saturday Banquet
• Delicious vegan cuisine and compassionate shopping

Animal Rights 2009 is the world's largest and longest-running animal rights gathering, hailing back to 1981. It is a forum for sharing knowledge, discussing strategies, networking, and "recharging our batteries" with old friends and new. Whether you're a seasoned activist or just curious, AR2009 has something for everyone! We're only in Los Angeles, every two years, so don't miss it!

FARM, In Defense of Animals, Sea Shepherd
Animal Acres, International Primate Protection League
ACT Radio, Anti-Fur Society, E/Environmental Magazine
Eko Zone, Healing Species, League of Humane Voters, Mercy For Animals
Skin Trade, Stop Animal Exploitation Now!
United Poultry Concerns, VegNews Magazine

Mayas Birthday/L'anniversaire de Maya

It is Mayas' birthday today she is 32 and spends most of her time with her buddy Spock, although she would gladly spend time with Binky and most recently with Petra and Yoko. That was a little explosive at first but turned out ok in the end! Maya has taken to her new home well and loves all the abundant food. Especially her morning smoothie and orange juice. In the past couple of weeks there has been construction and gardening going on around the chimp house and Maya loves to lie in the skywalk and observe all the action!! She also likes to get mad and display at anyone that dare drive under her skywalk!! Spock and Maya will be having a special visitor next week, their previous care taker from the Quebec City Zoo Sylvie will be comming to visit. What a treat that will be for them both.
C'est l'anniversaire de Maya qui a aujourd'hui 32 ans. Elle passe la plupart de son temps avec son copain Spock mais elle bien être avec Binky et depuis quelques temps avec Petra et Yoko. C'était un peu explosif au début mais ça s'est calmé! Maya s'est bien adapté à sa nouvelle demeure et elle adore l'abondance de nourriture surtout son smoothie du matin et son jus d'orange. Depuis maintenant quelques semaines il y a beaucoup de travaux de construction et de jardinage autour de la maison des chimpanzés et Maya adore se prélasser sur la passerelle pour voir toute l'action. Elle aime aussi se choquer et faire tout un spectacle à ceux qui passe sous la passerelle! Spock et Maya auront la visite d'une amie très chère la semaine prochaine. Sylvie prodigait les soins au zoo de Québec et ce sera vraiment la fête à son arrivée! Voici la note de Sylvie:

A note from Sylvie:

Maya, aujourd'hui, cela fait 32 ans que tu es dans ce monde, j'espère que ta vie continue de t'apporter les plaisirs que tu mérites. Je sais que tu es bien entourée et que ta vie sociale très stimulante aux côtés de tous tes nouveaux amis. Je t'envoie un gros bisous et une belle chatouille sur tes pieds. Je viendrai te voir bientôt. Gros bisous à Spock aussi.

Baby chimp moves to the Suncoast

SARASOTA COUNTY - There's a new star in town. Elijah -- Eli for short -- Is a 4-month-old baby chimp that came to live at Sarasota County's Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Animal Sanctuary.

http://www.mysuncoast.com/global/story.asp?s=10536831

Please, post your comments to let them know that this is no place for a baby chimpanzee!

INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PRIMATE BREEDING FACILITY IN PUERTO RICO

Please support the international campaign to stop the building of a primate breeding facility in Guayama City in Puerto Rico. There is already local opposition to this construction and we want to offer our support by launching an international effort to stop Puerto Rico from becoming a major player in the cruel trade in primates for research. We understand that the project is being led by Bioculture, a primate supply company from Mauritius that ships long-tailed macaques around the world to be used in research

Such a proposal is highly controversial and is a major step backwards at a time when the ethical and scientific use of nonhuman primates in research is being challenged internationally by scientists as well as others.

Primates are highly intelligent, social animals with complex behavioral and psychological needs. The cruelty and suffering involved in the international trade in primates for research has been well documented; in particular, the injuries and mortalities involved in the capture of monkeys from the wild and the stress and suffering involved in their confinement in captivity. The common fate of many primates in the research industry is to be used in toxicity testing which involves the forced ingestion, inhalation or injection of potentially lethal and poisonous chemicals

Please help by writing to the following people calling on them to dissociate Puerto Rico from the suffering and cruelty inherent in the trade in primates for research. If the construction is allowed to go ahead then this will not only result in the suffering of thousands of monkeys, it will also have a negative and detrimental impact on Puerto Rico’s image abroad.

Hon. Glorimari Jaime

Municipio Autonomo de Guayama

Oficina de Plan de Orden Territorial

P.O. Box 360.

Guayama

Puerto Rico 00785-0360

Congressman Pedro Pierluisi
1218 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515

Fax: (202) 225-2154
E-mail: PR00-WYR@housemail.house.gov

Thank you

British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV)

http://www.buav.org/home

International Primate Protection League (IPPL)

http://www.ippl.org/

New construction on the islands/Nouveaux projets de constructino sur les îles

Thanks to grants that Fauna received we were able to make the necessary changes to accommodate the chimps on their new islands. We added easier walkways, new stairs,cosier sleeping areas on the platforms, lexan roofs to keep everyone dry and a roof over the walkway to provide extra places for the chimps to sit out without being in the hot sun!!

Grâce à des subventions qu'à reçus Fauna nous avons pu effectuer quelques modifications pour accomoder les chimpanzés sur leurs nouvelles îles. Des promenades plus agréables, des escaliers, des aires de repos plus confortables sur les plateformes ont été ajoutés en plus de toitures pour garder tout le monde au sec sans oublier un toit sur la promenade pour faire un peu d'ombre pour les chimpanzés.

Here is how it is coming along!!
Voici les développements:


New posts soon, to show the final look!!
Bientôt nous afficherons des photos des travaux finis!

Victory! Sprint Agrees Not to Use Great Apes in Ads

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/06/victory_sprint.php

Peta Action Alert!!

Thank you for taking action recently to urge Sprint to stop circulating its commercial that features a chimpanzee and never use great apes in its advertisements again. Thanks to your efforts, Sprint has agreed not to use great apes in future advertisements!

If you've been to the movies recently, you've probably seen this commercial, in which a chimpanzee's "agent" is trying to negotiate for his "client." The negotiating agency retorts with, "It's a chimp," and his agent says, "He's a chimpanzee, and now he's offended," as the baby chimpanzee, clad in shorts and sunglasses, slurps on a cocktail. Being "offended" is the least of the worries of great apes used for entertainment. Chimpanzee babies are taken from their mothers within days of birth, which is extremely traumatic for both babies and their mothers, and are trained through physical punishment and domination. An undercover investigator who worked at a prominent Hollywood training facility saw a trainer kick baby chimpanzees and hit them with fists and sticks. Furthermore, primatologists conducted a survey that found that portraying chimpanzees in comedic settings undermines conservation efforts for these animals, who are endangered in the wild.

PETA met with Sprint executives and explained the inherent cruelty of the procurement, training, and disposal of great apes when they're no longer useful to the entertainment industry. After meeting with us and hearing from caring supporters like you, Sprint has agreed not to use great apes in future ads. Please take a moment to call Sprint Nextel Corporation at 1-800-877-4646 or *2 from your Sprint phone to thank the company for its compassionate decision.

Thank you for all that you do to help animals. With your help, we can make a difference!

Sincerely,
Kristie Phelps
Assistant Director
Animals in Entertainment Campaign

Ever changing gardens/Développement des jardins

New construction and adjustments have been made lately at the farm and in the gardens. We are working on a new children's garden, take a look at the work in progress!!

De nouvelles constructions et modifications ont été effectués récemment à la ferme et dans les jardins. Nous travaillons présentement à élaborer un jardin pour enfants. Regardez les travaux en cours!!


Children's garden and sunflower house
Jardin d'enfants et maison de tournesol


New monkey area observation
Nouvelle aire d'observation pour les singes

New Arrivals/Nouveaux résidents

The newest arrivals at Fauna are two wild geese families!!
Nos plus récents résidents à Fauna sont deux familles d'oies sauvage!!

As well as a duck family. Because they were both protected from predators on the chimp house islands all of the babies survived!!

Et nous avons aussi une famille de canards. Loin des prédateurs, la protection offerte par les îles des chimpanzés ont permis aux bébés de survivre!



And a mother common snapping turtle came to lay her eggs!! Hopefully we will be quick enough to catch the babies on film when the come out of their nesting...

Et une mère tortue est venue pondre ses oeufs! Avec un peu de chance, nous seront assez rapide pour prendre les bébés en photos à la fin de la nidification...

Little Primate Videos/Vidéo des petits primates

The famous root! La fameuse racine!

Here are some adorable videos of the monkeys enjoying their favorite wild root that we normally find in the back goat pasture along side the bull rushes!

Voici des vidéos des singes qui se régalent de la racine sauvage que nous retrouvons dans le pâturage arrière des chèvres!



Theo



Newton


Darla

No Shophie, she does not like the roots, sorry!

Chimp House Cook/Cuistôt de la Maison des chimpanzés

As you may remember in previous months there is often a recipe of the month or a favourite food mentioned and I thought it would be nice for everyone to meet our Chimp House cook. My (Kim) mom Lynda Slocum. The chimps are always excited to see her come in on Tuesday mornings, especially Yoko. They know that something hot and tasty is coming their way by noon. Lynda started cooking homemade, healthy food for the chimps a while back and just loves her new job, and gets excited when we tell her that the chimps loved one of her dishes!!
Comme vous avez pu le constater, une fois par mois nous proposons une recette du mois ou un aliment préféré et j'ai pensé que ce serait bien si vous pouviez tous rencontrer la cuisinière de la Maison des chimpanzés. Ma mère (Kim) Lynda Slocum. Les chimpanzés sont toujours très énervés de la voir arriver les mardi matins, surtout Yoko. Ils savent que quelque chose de chaud et délicieux sera préparé pour eux d'ici l'heure du dîner. Lynda a commencé à cuisiner des petits plats santé maison depuis maintenant un bon bout de temps et elle adore son nouveau travail. Elle est ravie lorsqu'elle entend que les chimpanzés se sont délectés!
The cook at work! Le cuistôt à l'oeuvre!


See, nice hot date squares!! Regardez ces délicieux carrés aux dattes!
Way to go mom!! Bravo maman!

Yokos Birthday

Testing the island trees for strength!!

Today is little mans' birthday . He turned 35 years old. Yoko has been doing great lately and as usual has a lot of energy. He is usually found bopping around the chimp house and he is definitely always up for a game of chase and tickle. Lately Yoko has been hanging out with Binky, Petra and most recently Rachel. It has been hot and humid out so Yoko usually chills out in a nice cool room during the day, comes down for his afternoon tea then out the door he goes to make a huge bed on one of the platforms of the islands!! If you know of someone that is always on the go, then Yoko would be a great guy to adopt for someone as a gift.

Yokos favourite position his little feet smacking together in the air!! What a guy....

Great Gifts/Superbes cadeaux

Traci Blasioli and Wael Kasouf sent individual gift bags for each chimp, as well as, other great toys like hoola hoops, candies, coloring books and crayons!!
Traci Blasioli et Wael Kasouf ont envoyé des petits sacs cadeaux pour chacun des chimpanzés en plus d'autres jouets comme des cerceaux, bonbons, livres à colorier et crayons de couleurs!!


Leslie Padorr sent two bags of Chinese style sock that Pepper loves and wears on her little whenever she finds any in her enrichment!!
Leslie Padorr a envoyé deux sacs remplis de bas de style Chinois que Pepper adore et elle en porte toujours dès qu'elle en trouve dans son activité d'enrichissement!

Special Volunteers/Bénévoles extraordinaires

Every year we have amazing volunteers come to help out here at Fauna. So far this year Sharon Stewart and Traci Gordon have come to visit and volunteer at the Chimp House. They are great women to have around and it is always an pleasure to spend time with them. They always go the extra mile to make sure they come bearing amazing gifts for the Chimps, as well as a nice surprise of a wonderful donation.
Chaque année nous avons plusieurs bénévoles vraiment génials qui viennent nous aider ici à Fauna. Sharon Stewart et Traci Gordon sont venues et font du bénévolat à la Maison des chimpanzés. Nous sommes toujours très heureux de les avoir parmi nous. Elles amènent toujours de superbes cadeaux pour les chimpanzés et nous avons toujours la surprise d'avoir un don.

Here they are surrounded by all the amazing toys and treats!!!
Les voici entourées par tous les jouets et les surprises!

On behalf of all the Fauna Chimpanzees and Staff. Thank you so much!!
De la part de tous les chimpanzés et le personnel: Merci beaucoup!!

And as faithful as ever Kathleen is always here on Tuesdays and Fridays to help out and do whatever needs to be done.
Here is Kathleen cleaning up the enrichment area and bins to make it all sparkling!!
Kathleen, l'une de nos bénévoles digne de confiance, vient tous les lundis et vendredis pour nous donner quelques heures. La voici donc en train de nettoyer l'aire pour l'activité d'enrichissement et les contenants de plastique afin que tous soit reluisant de propreté!



Thanks Kathleen!! Merci Kathleen!

Kevin O'Farrell and his wife Linda have been volunteers at Fauna on the farm for close to 8 years now and they rarely miss a Saturday!! They love to be around the farm animals, and even volunteered to take home one of our baby goats a couple of years back that was ill to help her recover!!
Kevin O'Farrell et son épouse Linda sont bénévoles depuis près de huit années maintenant et ils est rare qu'ils manquent un samedi! Ils adorent être près des animaux de la ferme et ont même offert (il y a de celà plusieurs années) de ramener à leur domicile un chevreau malade pour le soigner!

Thanks Kevin and Linda!! Merci à Kevin et Linda!