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  • From: Josh Greenman <joshg1973 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [monkeywire] monkey
  • Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2002 14:32:53 -0700 (PDT)


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020629/ap_wo_en_po/spain_chimp_sanctuary_3

AP World Politics
Chimps rescued from squalor inaugurate Spain's first primate rescue center
Sat Jun 29, 2:35 PM ET

By SARAH ANDREWS, Associated Press Writer

RIUDELLOTS DE LA SELVA, Spain - After spending eight years in tiny,
squalid cages and almost total darkness, seven chimpanzees
inaugurated Spain's first primate rescue center on Saturday.

Before being rescued and put in transitional cages last August, the
chimps lived in a derelict truck owned by circus trainer Rafael Rocas
and were only taken out to appear in advertisements and commercials.

One chimp had experience riding motorbikes and others starred in ads
for McDonald's, Estrella beer and Spain's largest communications
company, Telefonica. But their lives were anything but glamorous.

"The conditions they lived in were terrible," said Olga Feliu, the
founder of the Mona Foundation, the non-profit organization running
the center with support from the World Society for the Protection of
Animals, an international charity organization.

"It was impossible to get inside the truck to clean it, and the cages
were filled with rotting food and excrement. Some of them had
problems walking because they were kept in such small spaces for so
long," she said.

Now the chimps live in the newly completed sanctuary with its tall
grass, a pond, ropes and wooden structures for climbing.

The chimps can never be returned to the wild, but their new home
allows them a feel of their habitat.

The sanctuary also includes indoor sleeping quarters, where the
chimps are kept at night for their own protection, smaller cages
where they can be observed and an educational center where visitors
can learn about the chimps and the Mona Foundation's efforts to
rescue primates in Spain.

Spain currently has minimal animal welfare laws.

The foundation is working to rescue at least 20 other chimps living
in poor conditions in Spain and says there are countless others who
need help as well.



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  • [monkeywire] monkey, Josh Greenman, 07/02/2002

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