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Video & Multimedia

Omaha Steve

(99,632 posts) Sun Dec 21, 2014, 08:59 AM Dec 2014

58

You’ll Love When This (rescued) Chimpanzee Sees the Blue Sky for the Very First Time…

http://blog.therainforestsite.com/chimpsinhaven/

The Humane Society of the United States rescued 111 chimpanzees from horrendous conditions in testing facilities, and gave them — for the first time, or for the first time in a long time — their natural right to a peaceful habitat.

Rescuers brought the chimps to Chimp Haven, which is a vast stretch of land designated exclusively to rescued chimpanzees, located in northwest Louisiana. This group of apes has nearly doubled the size of the sanctuary, and is the largest number of chimps ever rescued at once.

Click below to see as some apes gaze up to the sky for the first time in their lives.

Published on Mar 4, 2013

More than 100 government-owned chimpanzees in research laboratories have started a new life at Chimp Haven sanctuary. Learn more: http://www.humanesociety.org/chimps

15 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

You’ll Love When This (rescued) Chimpanzee Sees the Blue Sky for the Very First Time… (Original Post) Omaha Steve Dec 2014 OP

Indescribably moving. Ineeda Dec 2014 #1

It must feel wonderful. Enthusiast Dec 2014 #2

OMG thank you so much for this, Omaha Steve. cntrygrl Dec 2014 #3

I cried out loud seeing this. Thank you so much. asjr Dec 2014 #4

Amazing! marym625 Dec 2014 #5

Great Post..thank you very much.. wonderful to watch. no text. Stuart G Dec 2014 #6

wow. BlancheSplanchnik Dec 2014 #7

Thanks for sharing. NOLALady Dec 2014 #8

Amazing! onecaliberal Dec 2014 #9

Wow! What a Warm Hearted, Feel Good Video! panfluteman Dec 2014 #10

Thanks to strong actions by Obama's administration/govt. agencies Divernan Dec 2014 #11

Beautiful and wonderful BlueJazz Dec 2014 #12

Truly heartwarming. nruthie Dec 2014 #13

Blessed are the rescuers, the liberators. flvegan Dec 2014 #14

The words "laboratory chimpanzees" narnian60 Dec 2014 #15

Ineeda

(3,626 posts)

1. Indescribably moving.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 09:46 AM

Dec 2014

Bordering on miraculous.

Enthusiast

(50,983 posts)

2. It must feel wonderful.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 10:16 AM

Dec 2014

cntrygrl

(356 posts)

3. OMG thank you so much for this, Omaha Steve.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 10:17 AM

Dec 2014

asjr

(10,479 posts)

4. I cried out loud seeing this. Thank you so much.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 10:25 AM

Dec 2014

marym625

(17,997 posts)

5. Amazing!

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 10:29 AM

Dec 2014

Thank you for sharing this.

This is so heartwarming and moving. It bothers me that they use the term "retire." As if the chimps had applied for the job of "research animal" and now get their pension and 401k. But I guess the fact that they were allowed to leave alive is a step further than would have happened just a few years ago.

Beautiful to watch.

Stuart G

(38,427 posts)

6. Great Post..thank you very much.. wonderful to watch. no text.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 10:31 AM

Dec 2014

BlancheSplanchnik

(20,219 posts)

7. wow.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 10:41 AM

Dec 2014

just.....wow.

NOLALady

(4,003 posts)

8. Thanks for sharing.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 11:03 AM

Dec 2014

onecaliberal

(32,861 posts)

9. Amazing!

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 11:15 AM

Dec 2014

panfluteman

(2,065 posts)

10. Wow! What a Warm Hearted, Feel Good Video!

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 11:23 AM

Dec 2014

I think I even saw a chimp hug a tree. Was he also wearing birkenstocks? It was also amazing how humanlike in expression the chimps' faces were, and how you could read and identify with the emotions they were experiencing. Interesting and amazing!

Divernan

(15,480 posts)

11. Thanks to strong actions by Obama's administration/govt. agencies

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 11:25 AM

Dec 2014

http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2014/01/merck-stops-chimp-research-013014.html?credit=web_id85536423

January 30, 2014
Top Pharmaceutical Company Stops Chimpanzee Use in Research

Merck & Co, Inc., will stop conducting or financially supporting biomedical research on chimpanzees into the foreseeable future. The availability of alternatives has led to the policy change by one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. The Humane Society of the United States welcomes the company’s decision.

The announcement follows years of dialogue between The HSUS and Merck about concerns for the company’s use of chimpanzees in invasive experiments, and follows major recent actions by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Congress to facilitate the retirement of hundreds of government-owned chimps from laboratories to sanctuaries.

Kathleen Conlee, vice president of animal research issues for The HSUS said: “Merck’s new biomedical research policy will save chimpanzees from unnecessary and painful experiments. Merck’s decision, and that of several other pharmaceutical companies, sends a strong message that private industry is moving away from chimpanzee research as the government has.”

With this recent announcement, Merck joins a growing list of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Novo Nordisk and Grifols, which have adopted policies against the use of chimpanzees in research.

Timeline:

Dec. 2011: Institute of Medicine study finds nearly all chimpanzee use for research is unnecessary.

June 11, 2013: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces a proposed rule to list captive chimpanzees in the U.S. and wild chimpanzees as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act. The proposed rule is expected to sharply curtail harmful use of chimpanzees in research, entertainment and the pet trade.

June 26, 2013: The National Institutes of Health announces policy changes to their support of chimpanzee research including the retirement of the vast majority of government-owned chimpanzees to sanctuary, and a significant reduction in chimpanzee research grants. The agency’s announcement was the result of the 2011 Institute of Medicine study.

Nov. 27, 2013: President Obama signs S. 252 into law; includes legislation amending the Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection (CHIMP) Act, allowing the National Institutes of Health to spend money on sanctuary care and to begin fulfilling the agency’s pledge to move laboratory chimpanzees to sanctuaries.

BlueJazz

(25,348 posts)

12. Beautiful and wonderful

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 11:38 AM

Dec 2014

nruthie

(466 posts)

13. Truly heartwarming.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Sun Dec 21, 2014, 12:29 PM

Dec 2014

flvegan

(64,407 posts)

14. Blessed are the rescuers, the liberators.

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Mon Dec 22, 2014, 01:51 AM

Dec 2014

"They are not ours to experiment on."

Thanks to HSUS for making yet another difference.

Every time I see one of these, I'm reminded of Britches and the evil men do, countered by others in black masks.

narnian60

(3,510 posts)

15. The words "laboratory chimpanzees"

Reply to Omaha Steve (Original post)

Mon Dec 22, 2014, 06:15 AM

Dec 2014

should not be in our vocabulary anymore.

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