The HSUS

Kitty, once used for breeding, now lives at Black Beauty Ranch

The National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research Resources' announced its decision to permanently end breeding of government-owned chimpanzees for research May 22.

The decision won praise from The Humane Society of the United States and Project R&R: Release & Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Laboratories, two groups working together to end the use of chimpanzees in biomedical research and testing and retire all chimpanzees to sanctuary.

The announcement concluded that there will no longer be funding by NCRR to support breeding. The NCRR will continue funding commitments for its existing chimpanzee population, approximately 500 chimpanzees currently in laboratories and 90 in a federal sanctuary for those no longer "needed" in research.

According to Kathleen Conlee, director of program management for animal research issues for The HSUS, and a leading expert on animals used in research, "This decision is a huge step towards a day when chimpanzees are no longer used in invasive biomedical research and testing. This will spare some chimpanzees a life of up to 60 years in a laboratory. While it doesn't help chimpanzees already living in laboratories, it is a monumental decision. Our ultimate goal is to put an end the use of chimpanzees in research and retire those chimpanzees to permanent and appropriate sanctuary."

NCRR, responsible for management of government-owned and supported chimpanzees, indicated their decision was based on the lack of financial resources to support the breeding of additional chimpanzees and the need to fulfill budget responsibilities to its other programs and resources.

Timeline:

• May 22, 2007: NCRR announced it will no longer financially support breeding of government-owned chimpanzees for research (and has not done so since 1995).
• 1997: The National Research Council published a report that recommended a breeding moratorium through at least 2001 (extended through 2007).
• 1995: The National Institutes of Health sought advice from the National Academy of Sciences regarding the "surplus" of chimpanzees following massive breeding and subsequent failure of the chimpanzee as a model for AIDS research in the 1980's. A breeding moratorium was put into effect that same year.

iStockphoto

The breeding moratorium is a victory for chimps

Facts:

• Of the estimated 1,200 chimpanzees in nine laboratories throughout the United states, approximately 500 are government owned or supported.
• The government spends $20 to 25 million per year on the care of chimpanzees in laboratories. The lifetime care of one chimpanzee is $300,000-500,000.
• Approximately 90 chimpanzees have been retired to the federally funded national chimpanzee sanctuary. Hundreds of additional chimpanzees formerly used in research in the United States reside at private sanctuaries throughout North America.
• Wenka, age 53, has spent most of her life in a lab. She currently resides at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Ga.