Members of Congress have called on Gov. Bobby Jindal to authorize the permanent retirement of 26 elderly, wild-caught chimpanzees currently residing at the federally-funded University of Louisiana at Lafayette's New Iberia Research Center. U.S. Reps. David Reichert, R-Wash., Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., sponsors of the Great Ape Protection Act (H.R. 1326), called for the move after the unveiling of The Humane Society of the United States' nine-month undercover investigation of NIRC, one of the largest primate laboratories in the country and the largest chimpanzee lab in the world.
The results of The HSUS' investigation revealed routine and unlawful mistreatment of hundreds of chimpanzees and other primates. The investigation resulted in a 108-page complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging a minimum of 338 possible violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act. The U. S. Department of Agriculture is now addressing NIRC's alleged lack of adherence to the minimum standards.
New Iberia Research Center cages about 6,000 monkeys and 325 chimpanzees on its 100 acres, but in the span of nine months, The HSUS' investigator saw only about 20 of the chimpanzees used in active studies. The majority of chimpanzees at the facility appeared to be warehoused or used for breeding
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