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[Benjamin Bayliss <ctrkgrendel AT yahoo.com>]

Bend sanctuary fights to keep chimps

Wildlife - A lawsuit challenges the return of animals to a Texas site once accused of cruelty

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

ASHBEL S. GREEN

The Oregonian

A Bend animal sanctuary filed a federal lawsuit Monday to try to stop the return of two chimpanzees to a Texas sanctuary that was accused of animal cruelty.

Co-plaintiffs include sanctuaries in South Carolina and New Mexico that seek to prevent the return of 12 gibbons and a longhorn steer to Primarily Primates, a San Antonio-based sanctuary that the Texas attorney general last year accused of animal mistreatment and financial impropriety.

Texas recently dropped legal action after Primarily Primates reorganized. But Bruce Wagman, a San Francisco attorney representing Chimps Inc., said many of the same people are running the place.

"My clients volunteered to take these animals who were in desperate condition," Wagman said. "Having done that, they're now being attacked by the very abusers who are trying to get them back."

Primarily Primates could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit.

Wagman said he was mystified why the Texas attorney general's office, which successfully petitioned a court to put a special receiver in charge of Primarily Primates, would suddenly dismiss the case and allow the same people to run it.

"This was a clear case of hoarding," Wagman said. "They had dogs. They had geese. They had peacocks. They had mice, potbellied pigs, guinea pigs, chickens, roosters."

The lawsuit says the grounds at Primarily Primates included "rivers" of excrement and piles of animal corpses. While conditions have improved, it is still not safe for animals or humans, the suit says. The suit also claims Primarily Primates officials misused public funds.

After Primarily Primates went into receivership, animals were transferred to various groups around the country, including Chimps Inc. in Bend and the other plaintiffs. The suit says the plaintiffs have written agreements that call for the animals to spend the rest of their lives in their new homes.

Yet according to Wagman, Primarily Primates officials have threatened to sue to get the animals back to Texas.

Ashbel "Tony" Green: 503-221-8202; tonygreen AT news.oregonian.com

©2007 The Oregonian

Subject: Google Alert - "Primarily Primates"
To: ctrkgrendel AT yahoo.com
From: Google Alerts <googlealerts-noreply AT google.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 02:11:38 -0700

Google News Alert for: "Primarily Primates"

Bend sanctuary fights to keep chimps
OregonLive.com - Portland,OR,USA
Co-plaintiffs include sanctuaries in South Carolina and New Mexico that seek to prevent the return of 12 gibbons and a longhorn steer to Primarily Primates, ...
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