The Great Ape Protection Act, H.R. 1326, has been reintroduced, prohibiting invasive research on great apes, including chimpanzees, baboons, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons. This bill would also provide for the permanent retirement of all great apes owned or under the control of the federal government that have been used for invasive research.
This bill, sponsored by Representative Edolphus Towns (NY), already has co-sponsors from both parties. It would take effect three years after passage, but faces a difficult struggle%u2014your help is needed!
Great apes, which have been used since the 1950s as models for physiological, biomedical, and behavioral studies, are intelligent and social animals whose physical and mental similarities to humans indicate that their pain, needs and emotions are comparable to those experienced by humans.
Advances in medical science show that research on great apes to find solutions to human problems is unnecessary, and in fact can provide misleading information in providing cures for human disease. Austria, the United Kingdom, Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Japan have already banned or severely limited experiments on great apes.
It is time that the U.S. recognizes that great apes should not be used for experimentation.
Please Support H.R. 1326
Dear Henry A. Waxman
We the undersigned are writing to ask your support for the Great Ape Protection Act, HR 1326, which would prohibit invasive research on great apes. It would end the use of federal funds to conduct invasive research on a great ape, the breeding of great apes for the purpose of use in research, and the transport of a great ape for the purpose of conducting invasive experiments. This bill would also provide for the permanent retirement of all great apes owned or under the control of the federal government that have been used for invasive research.
Great apes, which include chimpanzees, baboons, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons, have been used since the 1950s as models for physiological, biomedical, and behavioral studies. However these are intelligent and social animals whose physical and mental similarities to humans indicate that their pain, needs and emotions are comparable to those experienced by humans.
Advances in medical science show that research on great apes to find solutions to human problems is not necessary, and in fact can provide misleading information in providing cures for human disease. Austria, the United Kingdom, Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Japan have already banned or severely limited experiments on great apes.
It is time that the U.S. recognizes that great apes should not be used for experimentation.
We thank you For Your Attention In this Matter
