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Use of chimp in airport's ad leads to PETA protest

Posted on Mon, Mar. 03, 2008

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has a beef over a
commercial produced by Kuhn & Wittenborn for the Kansas City Aviation
Department.

The ad uses a chimpanzee named Kenzie to demonstrate the usefulness of
the Web site FlyKCI.com to find, book and pay for flights and find
prime parking spots at the airport.

After the spot began running in late December on closed-circuit TVs at
Kansas City International Airport, PETA member Kristie Phelps sent a
written protest to the department.

Phelps disputed an assertion in the ad that the Missouri Primate
Foundation — where 2-year-old Kenzie lives — had a relationship with
three veterinarians, including one who works for the St. Louis Zoo.

The zoo then sent a letter to Tom McKenna, an assistant director at
the Aviation Department, asking that he stop claiming that any vet at
the zoo was affiliated with the foundation.

The Aviation Department apologized for the mix-up and complied with the 
request.

Phelps told The Star that PETA opposes the use of any primate in any
commercial endeavor and wants the ad pulled.

Two PETA members protested Wednesday at the zoo. One was dressed as a
chimp in a cage.

Phelps said that with the availability of computer-generated images
and puppetry, there is no reason to use animals in commercials.

"We feel like chimpanzees, orangutans and great apes have no business
in show business," Phelps said. "These animals are taken away from
their mothers at a young age and changed through domination and
beating and forced to act or suffer the consequences. When they grow
to be about 8 years old, they're sent off to be bred or sent to
sanctuaries, and we have found deplorable situations in
pseudo-sanctuaries."

Connie Casey, who with her husband, James, owns the 65-acre preserve
outside St. Louis, said 20 chimpanzees live there. Many are retired
performers, while others were born there or came from abusive
situations.

"PETA has never been here. They have no idea what kind of facility we
have," Casey said. "We love these animals. They're our children."

Casey said the mix-up about the vet and the St. Louis Zoo pertained to
foundation consultant Doug Pernikoff, who decades ago was an intern at
the zoo.

In a subsequent news release, Phelps criticized the foundation for an
incident in 2001 in which three chimps escaped from the preserve and
ended up outside a neighboring home.

Casey said a teenager at the home shot one chimp with a shotgun twice
in the back and once in the face. The teenager was arrested and
convicted, spent 30 days in jail and received five years of probation.

Phelps said that it is the responsibility of the preserve to ensure
the animals are kept on its premises. Phelps also said the foundation
has been cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. My online search
turned up three reports of minor issues during routine inspections
from 1998 to 2004.

Joe McBride of the Aviation Department witnessed the two-day video
shoot with Kenzie.

"(Kenzie) seemed to really enjoy the attention, and when Kenzie got
tired or was hungry, he had a nap and a snack," McBride said.

McBride said the department did not plan to pull the ad.