Sanctuary Under Siege
by Lee Hall, June 02, 2006
Concocting a Lawsuit Against a Texas Refuge, Welfare Advocates Throw the Ball at the Wrong Goal
Once upon a time at Ohio State University, psychologist Sally Boysen received international attention for showing that chimpanzees had the capacity for complex intractions and perceptions. For 23 years, the chimpanzees natives of equatorial Africa with an intense natural urge for motion and freedom, were kept in Ohio and used in cognition experiments.
Recently, Sally Boysen's funding dried up. In 2005, after numerous warnings, the University, which had paid large yearly costs to house the chimpanzees and support the research, decided to divest itself of the research subjects.[1] A Texas sanctuary named Primarily Primates stepped forward to accept the chimpanzees.
Wallace Swett opened Primarily Primates at San Antonio in 1978 as a refuge for apes, monkeys, and other animals discarded by pet owners, roadside zoos, biomedical institutions, space research, and the entertainment industry.
The University sent representatives, including several veterinarians, to inspect the sanctuary. Dr. Thomas Butler, a retired veterinarian with years of experience with primates at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, calls Primarily Primates’ residents “physically and behaviorally healthy” and prepared a positive report for Ohio State, which ultimately agreed to transfer ownership of the apes there, along with $236,483 to build them permanent living enclosures.[2]
The nine chimpanzees were taken out of the Ohio lab on the 27th of February. Sally Boysen, chained to the laboratory door in an angry display against the University, protested the end of the research opportunity, and quickly found allies to help — people willing to deprecate the sanctuary.
In Ohio, Boysen has gone into court against the University to try to void the contractual agreement.[3] About the University’s position, Boysen said, "They just don't tell the truth. This is all about spin."[4]
People willing to attack the sanctuary include its former volunteer Terry Minchew, and the animal-welfare group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (“PeTA”).
Terry Minchew
Prior to 2004, Terry Minchew was a small Primarily Primates donor, and active in the Simian Society of America, a group which promotes private ownership of monkeys.
In 2004, the unemployed Minchew was divorcing, and had no place to go with a collection of over 25 monkeys, birds, dogs, cats and goats.
Primarily Primates had a vacant home on the sanctuary property. An agreement was reached: Minchew would pay no rent or utilities in exchange for accepting outreach duties for the sanctuary, and for providing enrichment for the animals. The relationship went well for several months, but in the meantime, the Animal Care Supervisor, Mike, without permission, moved in with Terry.
Minchew's work performance lagged; the relationship between Swett and Minchew declined; but Minchew was not inclined to move. Instead, Minchew urged the sanctuary’s board that, for the sake of the animals, she and Mike should replace Swett.
During this time, Minchew set up a visit from PeTA’s Lisa Wathne. As this was deliberately done without without Swett’s knowledge, it’s reasonable to believe that whatever was observed had been staged. Moreover, PeTA could hardly be expected to be an impartial and objective visitor, as the group defends its own routine killing policy by saying that rescued animals have deplorable lives.[5]
Minchew and Mike were eventually evicted from the property through court order, and left the house in an alarming state. The many cats had no litter boxes inside, and a number of them were abandoned there, as were several of Minchew’s goats.
Terry Minchew further claims that Primarily Primates does not hire women. Primarily Primates does not discriminate — and, indeed, housed Terry herself and hired other female workers.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Sue the Sanctuary
Lisa Wathne from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals held a press conference on 22 March 2006, at The Lofts at Nationwide Arena, to announce the filing of a complaint with OSU's General Counsel.[6]
Wathne described the PeTA submission as invoking a Texas statute, enacted in 2001, that regulates transferring ownership of dangerous animals, including chimpanzees, obliging counties to register owners or ban the animals.[7] Additionally, PeTA invoked a county ban on "dangerous wild animals" (a category that includes chimpanzees). [8] Wathne also showed a video, claiming that it documented poor conditions at the refuge.
During this same period, Primarily Primates was visited by Virginia Landau of the Jane Goodall Institute, Dr. Martino, a chimpanzee specialist formerly with Bastrop; and two film crews, one from National Geographic, the other an independent filmmaker from Austin. Jane Goodall visited in 2003. None of these visits resulted in concerns for the care and housing Primarily Primates provides.
Yet PeTA’s suit in Bexar County claims inadequate care, faulty cage locks, lack of shade, and insufficient enrichment; and urged the court to name a trustee to control the primates and the money from Ohio State. The PeTA lawsuit reportedly named seven chimpanzees, and two capuchin monkeys — Sarah, Keeli, Ivy, Sheba, Darrell, Harper, Emma, Rain and Ulysses — as plaintiffs.[9] Michael Gayler, one of the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, said, "Texas law has recognized that a trust can be established on behalf of animals. The contract (between Ohio State and Primarily Primates) is a trust."[10]
PeTA also accused the sanctuary of wrongly sedating the apes on arrival due to a lack of sophisticated equipment. (The sanctuary is not an arm of the National Institutes of Health or NASA. It did, however, have experts in veterinary medicine handling this part of the process.)
Mary Beth Sweetland, director of PeTA's “Research & Investigations Department,” went so far as to charge that Dr. William Yonushonis, clinical associate professor and the veterinarian in charge of laboratory animals at OSU, “engaged in nothing short of animal abuse” because OSU did not send a veterinarian on the trip to Texas.
Sweetland then commanded the Univerity to fire the professor. “Yonushonis,” said Sweetland, “has got to go."
University spokesperson Earle Holland said: “[W]e're confident in our decision to send them to Primarily Primates. They are in a better situation and we're getting reports that the animals are thriving. We haven't been contacted by authorities that raised the issues PETA raised."
Indeed, by late March it came to light that the Bexar County ban exempts Primarily Primates. Here's why: The state law exempts animal shelters and makes no mention of sanctuaries. The law offered counties two choices. Adopt the ban or agree to regulate. Bexar County adopted the ban because they didn't want to spend funds to regulate. So the state law became the Bexar County law. But because the state law exempts wildlife rehabilitation organizations, and Primarily Primates does have a permit from Texas Parks and Wildlife for wildlife rehabilitation, the sanctuary is exempt in Bexar County--and also from the state law.
Thus, the County never questioned Primarily Primates about registration. Which makes sense. Many communities rightly ban private ownership of exotic animals. A sanctuary, however, meets the unfortunate need for refuge that private owners created. And a sanctuary shouldn’t be forced to display animals in order to legally exist.
After Judge Michael Peden of the 285th District ordered the parties to find a mutually agreeable outsider to inspect the sanctuary and report the findings to the court, PeTA filed a 100-page revised motion. After this point, the sanctuary's attorney was unable to keep up with the attacks on a pro bono basis. This unfortunately means that a sanctuary is forced to give up money to defend a lawsuit. The judge has since asked the Dallas Zoo to send someone to inspect the sanctuary.
On USDA Regulation
Some parties have expressed their opinions that Primarily Primates should have been inspected and regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA is charged with enforcing the Animal Welfare Act; however, the same Department also experiments on animals and oversees the killing and marketing of animals. In short, the USDA’s primary function with regard to animals is the regulating and facilitating their use.
Primarily Primates is not licensed by the USDA. Nevertheless, the local USDA field agent does visit frequently. Most important, Primarily Primates uses seven veterinarians of various areas of expertise in or near San Antonio. Another veterinarian heads the sanctuary’s advisory board.
USDA licensing is unnecessary insofar as a sanctuary is not involved in regulated uses such as exhibiting, breeding, or trading animals. Primarily Primates does not breed, sell or trade animals, or agree to use animals commercially in any way. The sanctuary believes firmly in maintaining the distinction between sanctuaries and zoos. Thus, explains the sanctuary’s founder:
Nor do we parade our animals before the public in the interest of having them earn their keep, for which they owe us nothing. We value their privacy and our sanctuary is not open to the public. Since our founding we have saved the lives of thousands of animals who had no place else to go. Many of our primates have led horrible lives, used in some of the most frightening experiments imaginable. Here they can live out the rest of their lives in peace.[11]
Kermit and Bobby
The deaths of chimpanzees Kermit and Bobby after arrival escalated the emotional dispute.[12] Those attacking the sanctuary cite the deaths as evidence to back their claims. But the necropsies told a different story. Both chimpanzees had pre-existing heart conditions, common for nonhuman apes faced with the stress imposed by captivity in human settings. Added risks result both from travel and anaesthesia – both common where large animals live in or are transferred between human settings, including sanctuaries.
Kermit, who was visibly overweight, died of a heart attack after being sedated prior to being moved from a van to an enclosure at the refuge. Bobby, aged 19, arrived without incident, but one afternoon in late April, the temperature spiked. That wouldn’t have bothered a chimpanzee in nature, but Bobby had been kept in an Ohio lab. Bobby saw a cardiologist about 5 years ago and was temporarily put on heart medication.
All the primates become languid on hot days, and Bobby was no exception. Nevertheless, given Bobby’s history, the veterinarian was called and was coming out the next morning to take a look. But Bobby died overnight of heart failure.
Blaming a sanctuary for the deaths of primates to whom it offered refuge only buttresses the position of people in animal use enterprises who oppose private refuges. It’s important to remember that Primarily Primates shelters animals who are used up and discarded by previous owners. Once, Primarily Primates took in a very large colony of cottontop tamarins. They had been used in colon cancer research. Many — tragically but not surprisingly — escaped the labs alive only to die from colon cancer.
But Primarily Primates stays open to do what can be done. Including the chimpanzees recently transferred from Ohio State, the refuge provides lifetime care for more than 70 chimpanzees, from youngsters up to age 60, and other animals, including over 450 other primates. The sanctuary’s first chimpanzee, Rudy, arrived in 1983, and is thriving today.
Living at Primarily Primates
Friends of Animals president Priscilla Feral toured the sanctuary grounds with Wally Swett on the 16th through the 18th of May 2006.
Feral wrote directly from San Antonio on 16 May:
After just touring the grounds for five hours, my overall impression of Primarily Primates is very good. Lead caregiver Tracy and crew are excellent and dedicated to their charges.
Last time I saw the sanctuary it was on nine acres. Now the grounds include 75 acres. The new enclosures are in impressive settings, as are the extensive encloures for smaller apes: the gibbons. Lots of flowering bushes.
The chimpanzees from Ohio State look animated and adjusted. What a pleasure to see them and the many others with the full range of displays when I was introduced. Two of the youngest Ohio State chimpanzees are with two other youngsters. They have trees to climb and room to romp. I also saw the four older Ohio State chimpanzees and am pleased to say that they seem to be in great shape and in good company. I understand that this is the first time they have been allowed to forge social bonds in a group at their own pace — something all apes enjoy in their native settings.
For basic nutrition all of the primates get a commercial cereal, and they also receive lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. They drink water from an automatic faucet. Enclosures were clean, with climbing structures artfully integrated into the interior landscape. And I saw the new enclosures under construction where they'll have eight times the space they had when they were used in cognitive experiments.
Similarly, Virginia Landau, an Arizona primatologist with the Goodall Institute, when given unfettered access to the property and records on recent visits to Primarily Primates, felt satisfied with the quality of care. Landau, who visits zoos nationwide to improve conditions for captive primates, said of Primarily Primates, "The animals look good."[13]
Dr. Butler, the retired veterinarian from San Antonio's Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, still provides care at the sanctuary, and describes Wally Swett as “a caring and knowledgeable person who has studied the biology and behavior of each species he maintains.”[14]
Conclusion
The terror attacks in 2001 hit the economy and the sanctuary’s donations decreased by 45%. And since the enactment of the CHIMP Act, which essentially promotes public funding for the warehousing of nonhuman apes while keeping them under full legal control of the National Institutes of Health, less attention is being paid to Primarily Primates.
Then came Katrina and Rita. The bulk of emergency donations went to high-profile humane groups. The public’s capacity for supporting direct assistance to animals has never been more stretched. Some supporters just won’t quit, though, and neither will Primarily Primates.
Then, in struts People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The negative news reports they have generated means several donors have severed ties with Primarily Primates, pulling donations to the refuge down another 15%.
And to top it off is PeTA’s method of attacking Primarily Primates. Great Ape Standing & Personhood views the idea that an animal-welfare group would bring a case for custody of nonhuman primate against a sanctuary as appalling. A goal-directed model case to establish legal rights for nonhuman primates would involve a suit against the people who use the primates as instruments for gain. [Click here to read a model for such a suit.]
Those who unfortunately believe that this is the time and place to bring such a case really blew it if they thought animal rights would be advanced by forcing a sanctuary’s lawyer to argue that non-human apes don't have standing. From the viewpoint of serious animal advocates, it would be difficult to overstate how ill-advised PeTA’s action is. A suit naming apes as plaintiffs should not serve the interests of a reearcher; its should instead value their own freedom. As Wally Swett put the point:
Chimpanzees and other primates are not ours to capture, breed, or use. We should never deny them their families and natural habitats regardless of any attempt to justify it for human objectives. This is true even if what's obtained might provide evidence to buttress the moral imperative for respecting their freedom.
...We support the cause of animal rights, as we have for decades, and look forward to the day that primates are respected for their interests in living in their own habitat, free of human intervention. On that day, primates will no longer be thought of as suitable for placement in labs, just as they won’t be thought suitable as spectacles in zoos or circuses. They’ll never have to die in captivity as they’ll never have to live in it.