The Humane Society of the United States and Project R&R: Release & Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Laboratories applaud the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research Resources' (NCRR) decision to permanently end breeding of government-owned chimpanzees for research. The HSUS and Project R&R are working together to end the use of chimpanzees in biomedical research and testing and retire all chimpanzees to sanctuary.
The announcement, made earlier this week, concluded that there will no longer be funding by NCRR to support breeding. NCRR will continue funding commitments for its existing chimpanzee population, approximately 500 chimpanzees currently in labs 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."
Project R&R executive director, Theodora Capaldo added, "The American public is deeply concerned about chimpanzees in laboratories. NCRR's prudent decision is timely since not only U.S. but also world sentiment is growing in support of the day when no chimpanzees will be used in laboratory research
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