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http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA050706.01A.Chimp_Sanctuary.871d319.html

> Primates in the courtroom: Sanctuary at center of fight 
>
> Web Posted: 05/07/2006 12:00 AM CDT
> Cindy Tumiel
> Express-News Staff Writer 
>
> If you believe everything you read, seven chimpanzees and two capuchin
> monkeys hired their own lawyer and went to court in Bexar County last
> week, asserting they were entitled to a court-appointed guardian who
> would take care of them and oversee $200,000 that has been pledged to
> their well-being. 
>
> The lawsuit raised a few eyebrows and generated some smiles when it fell
> into the hopper at the Bexar County district clerk's office. 
>
> But the legal
>  petition from Sarah, Keeli, Ivy, Sheba, Darrell, Harper,
> Emma, Rain and Ulysses cuts to the heart of a raging debate that's no
> laughing matter: whether Primarily Primates, a well-known, 28-year-old
> animal sanctuary in Northwest Bexar County, has fallen into a state of
> decay that endangers the welfare of some 1,000 animals living there. 
>
> The legal expenses are being paid by People for the Ethical Treatment of
> Animals, or PETA, and follow the deaths of two other chimpanzees that
> came to South Texas with the animal plaintiffs in March. A monkey also
> has disappeared, escaping her enclosure at the sanctuary. She has not
> been seen in several weeks. 
>
> All were from an Ohio State University colony, where psychologist Sally
> Boysen earned international attention for her research establishing that
> chimps, humans' closest genetic relatives, could learn to count, do
> simple arithmetic and communicate in sign language. 
>
> The university
>  decided to divest itself of the chimps after Boysen's
> funding dried up. Last year it signed an agreement to transfer ownership
> of the animals to Primarily Primates and pay the sanctuary $236,483 to
> build them permanent living enclosures. 
>
> Their departure from Ohio State to Primarily Primates was controversial.
> Boysen chained herself to the door of the university's primate center in
> protest. The deaths of Kermit and Bobby and the escape of Jane have
> escalated an already emotional dispute. 
>
> Boysen says the San Antonio sanctuary is substandard. She has been
> joined by other researchers and animal rights groups, along with some
> former employees of the sanctuary. 
>
> They describe an aging facility on the decline, suffering from dwindling
> financial support, staff shortages and management problems that put the
> basic health and safety of the animals at risk. 
>
> Safe and humane 
>
> But others, including a primatologist from
>  the Jane Goodall Foundation
> and a retired veterinarian from San Antonio's Southwest Foundation for
> Biomedical Research, say they've seen the facility recently and it's and
> humane for the animals that have retired there. 
>
> The dispute has raged back and forth across the Internet and now is
> spilling into courtrooms in Texas and Ohio, where Boysen has gone to a
> federal court to try to void the contract that Ohio State signed with
> Primarily Primates. 
>
> "I shouldn't be talking to reporters," a distraught Boysen said in a
> brief interview, where she referred questions to her attorneys. "They
> just don't tell the truth," she said of the university. "This is all
> about spin." 
>
> Wallace Swett, founder and president of the 75-acre sanctuary in Leon
> Springs, says a long-standing disagreement between him and PETA is at
> the heart of the matter. He said PETA and like-minded animal rights
> groups disfavor sanctuaries, which still keep
>  animals confined in
> enclosures while allowing them to live out their lives. 
>
> "It's not about the animals. The animals will be fine," Swett said after
> a court hearing Thursday. "They are definitely after the money." 
>
> Many famous people and famous animals have made their way to Primarily
> Primates, which Swett opened in 1978 as one of the first places offering
> refuge to apes, chimpanzees and other animals that had exhausted their
> usefulness to roadside zoos, medical research and other human
> enterprises. 
>
> Notable retirees have included chimps from the American space program,
> an orangutan that starred in a Clint Eastwood movie and a chimpanzee
> that once belonged to Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. 
>
> For years, the animals and their stories generated a continuous stream
> of positive publicity for the sanctuary and big financial donations
> followed. Supporters have included Hollywood celebrities including game
> show host
>  Bob Barker and actress Loretta Swit. 
>
> Leaner days 
>
> But money has been hard to come by in recent years, Swett acknowledges.
> The terror attacks in 2001 hit the economy and changed some donor
> priorities, he said. Plus, donors have been drawn to two new federally
> supported sanctuaries that have opened for primates retiring from
> federal research studies. 
>
> Recent bad publicity about Primarily Primates also has taken a toll,
> Swett said. 
>
> The most recently available Internal Revenue Service tax return, from
> 2004, lists $606,762 in direct public support - about half of what it
> was a decade ago, Swett admits. 
>
> "After 9-11 we went down 45 percent in donations," he said. "With this
> current thing (negative news reports) we are down another 15 percent. We
> have lost valuable donors. We are pretty poor right now." 
>
> The court documents and statements from former employees describe a
> financial strain that affects the
>  welfare of the animals. 
>
> Veterinary care is inadequate, the suit in Bexar County charges. Cages
> at the facility are not sanitized properly and are not secured with
> proper locks; animals don't have shade and don't get enough enrichment
> to improve their quality of life, according to the lawsuit. 
>
> John Fischer, a former animal care manager who left the facility in
> 2003, said vet care often was delayed because there wasn't money to pay
> for it. Staffing was minimal; Fischer said he typically had a skeleton
> crew of four workers who struggled to do basic feeding and cleaning and
> property maintenance. 
>
> "The enrichment that primates need is non-existent," he said. 
>
> But on the other side of the issue, Virginia Landau, an Arizona
> primatologist with the Goodall Institute, says she did not see sick or
> suffering animals during two visits to Primarily Primates last year. 
>
> Landau said she was given unfettered access to the
>  property and records
> and walked away feeling satisfied with the quality of care. 
>
> "The animals look good," said Landau, who works with zoos around the
> country to improve the quality of life for their primates. "If you go to
> a zoo, you will see a lot of monkeys and chimps with hair torn out and
> you don't see a lot of that at Primarily Primates. I figure something
> good is going on." 
>
> Dr. Thomas Butler, a retired veterinarian who spent years caring for
> primates at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, also
> remains supportive of Swett. He would not grant an interview for this
> article, but referred to a report he prepared for Ohio State in
> December, when the university was deciding where to send the animals. 
>
> Butler, who still provides vet care at the sanctuary, described Swett as
> a caring and knowledgeable person who has studied the biology and
> behavior of each species he maintains. Animals at the facility
>  "were
> both physically and behaviorally healthy," Butler said. 
>
> A test case 
>
> The conflicting opinions now have landed in front of 285th District
> Judge Michael Peden, who was assigned to preside over the dispute. 
>
> PETA and other supporters want the court to name a trustee for the
> animals, who would oversee use of the $236,483 the university provided
> for their care. 
>
> On Thursday, Peden's first move was to order the warring parties to find
> a mutually agreeable outsider to inspect the sanctuary and report the
> findings to the court. 
>
> That could happen as soon as next week, said Michael Gayler, one of the
> attorneys representing the animals. 
>
> "Texas law has recognized that a trust can be established on behalf of
> animals," he said. "The contract (between Ohio State and Primarily
> Primates) is a trust. Our concern is whether that care is up to
> appropriate standards." 
>
> Swett said the case is really part of
>  a slow campaign by animal rights
> groups to get courts to agree that animals - and primates in particular
> - have legal rights equivalent to humans. 
>
> "I am very disappointed that they have chosen us for their test case,"
> said Swett, who opposes using primates in research. "If it was done
> differently and properly, I'd be out there with them. But not here. We
> haven't done anything wrong." 
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
> ctumiel AT express-news.net

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