Chimps to sanctuary, macaques escape, election and Pnut updates + more 11/10/24

It’s been quite a week. Today I will share a quick round-up of news for animals from the US election, as well as superb news, in today’s New York Times, that the Alamogordo chimps are moving to sanctuary, and the frustrating news, on Canadian front pages, that while yet another Beluga has died at Marineland, the fifth in a year, the facility declares it has no water problems.

Before I get to those, let me thank all of you who wrote to the Los Angeles Times in response to Carla Hall’s lovely piece suggesting elephants need sanctuary. I was surprised that the paper ran my letter, as its lead letter, on election day, Tuesday November 5, under the heading, “Would you want to live in a zoo?” with a beautiful photo of Osh the elephant who was recently moved from Oakland Zoo to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. I have the layout displayed on the DawnWatch Facebook page and also displayed on the DawnWatch X feed. You can read the text at the LA Times link or, if you hit a paywall there, on Yahoo, though without the nice photo. I suspect the animal friendly letters editor got away with running it as the lead on election day because of the last line:

” In our treatment of other species, just like with our own, it is time for some common-sense balance that can lead to a winning outcome for all.”

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I hope animal advocates of every political persuasion can celebrate a new vegan, in the United States senate, Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California. Hopefully he will team up to do great things for animals with fellow vegan Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), with whom Booker has worked in the past on groundbreaking anti-vivisection legislation, and with vegan Tulsi Gabbard, who is co-chair of President elect Trump’s transition team and expected to be part of his new administration.

We had bad news across the country on animal friendly ballot measures:

Colorado Politics reports the failure of “a statewide measure aimed to forbid hunting of big cats,”  and of two local Denver measures that “asked voters to prohibit the sale of furs and shut down a local slaughterhouse.”

In Sonoma California, CBS news reported:

“A controversial ban on large animal farms in Sonoma County appears to be heading for a major defeat, as early returns show 85% of the voters rejecting Measure J.”

Worried that showed a significant shift from the days in which Californians overwhelmingly voted for the farmed animal welfare measures Prop 2 and Prop 12, I was less worried after reading the National Public Radio station KQED’s report and learning from it that “All the large poultry and dairy farms in Sonoma County are certified organic,” which surely made the need for change a harder sell, and also that both the local Democrat and Republican parties stood against the measure. I would suggest that the very tone of the coverage probably left the measure, sadly, with little chance of success.

It may be worth noting that Sonoma Country and Colorado did not follow the country’s swing rightward. That supports DawnWatch’s strictly nonpartisan stance, holding that the left is generally just as awful on animals as the right.

Meanwhile, Florida Today tells us that in right-leaning Florida, the right to hunt and fish has become part of the state constitution, passing with 67 percent of the vote.

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To the beautiful chimp news in today’s New York Times, which was also in yesterday’s Santa Fe New Mexican:

The New York Times headline announces, “N.I.H. Chimps Will Move to Sanctuary” (page A20) and the story, by Emily Anthes, tells us:

“Nearly two dozen government-owned chimpanzees, which have been living in an isolated desert facility since being retired from research, will be transferred to a sanctuary in Louisiana, officials from the National Institutes of Health said in an interview on Thursday.

“For years, chimpanzee experts and some American lawmakers have urged the agency to relocate the chimps, which reside at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico. In 2021, several animal welfare groups sued the N.I.H., arguing that it had violated federal law by refusing to move the animals.

“The N.I.H. had previously concluded that the chimps were too sick or frail to be moved. The agency’s assessment of the chimps’ health has not changed, and relocating the animals is a risk, officials said.

“But the agency has become concerned that it might soon face a staffing shortage at the remote New Mexico facility, making it impossible to secure the chimps’ long-term future….

“As of Oct. 1, 23 chimpanzees, ages 34 to 62, remained at Alamogordo. They will be moved to a facility in Louisiana called Chimp Haven, which sits on 200 forested acres and serves as the national chimpanzee sanctuary.”

Hallelujah!

And we read:

“Some experts have disputed the characterization of the chimps as too sick to move, noting that many aging chimps with chronic conditions have been transported safely to Chimp Haven.”

I can share this gift link from DawnWatch to the full article for those who wish to respond.

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Saturday’s article in the Santa Fe New Mexican (page A7) was titled, “Chimps to be transferred to sanctuary.” Note the different tone and different relative pronoun use in the opening paragraphs of the coverage by penned by Gabrielle Porter,:

“The last surviving members of the Alamogordo chimpanzee colony will live out their final days in a Louisiana sanctuary rather than at the Holloman Air Force Base facility where they formerly underwent medical testing, officials announced this week.

“Animal rights activists have pushed for years for the National Institutes of Health to relocate the animals still living at the Alamogordo Primate Facility to Chimp Haven, a wooded preserve in northern Louisiana that’s already home to more than 300 former research chimps.

“National Institutes of Health officials have long insisted that the chimps left in New Mexico – whose numbers have dwindled to about 23 in recent years – are too medically frail to safely make the nearly 800-mile journey east to Chimp Haven, an assertion that’s been hotly contested by activists for several years. But in the end, the about-face came not as a result of a change in the chimps’ medical conditions but because of staffing challenges with their contracted caretakers.”

And it includes this hopeful news:

“The chimps haven’t been used for experiments since 2015, and Smith said a number of Chimp Haven residents were transferred to the Louisiana sanctuary from Alamogordo several years ago. She said she’s hopeful staff will be able to witness some ‘sweet reunions between old friends’ once the new residents arrive.”

I know that a few superb New Mexican animal advocates subscribe to DawnWatch, so I urge you guys (and anybody else who feels strongly about this issue) to respond with a letter .

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In Canada today, Sunday November 10, the front page of the Niagara Falls Review, the St. Catharine’s Standard, and the Welland Tribune, announce, “Another beluga whale dead: Marineland water troubles are under control”

The same Canadian Press article, by Liam Casey, was in yesterday’s, Saturday November 9, Toronto Star (page A8), Stratford Beacon-Herald (page A4) and Brantford Expositor (page A6).

It opens:

“Three weeks after the death of another beluga whale at Marineland, the Ontario government is speaking publicly about its ongoing investigation of the park, saying water troubles are under control after a recent investment.

“The province’s chief animal welfare inspector told The Canadian Press that to her understanding, marine mammal deaths at the tourist destination in Niagara Falls, Ont., have not been related to water quality.

“That’s despite the fact the water did not meet the standard of care until recently, Melanie Milczynski said in a rare interview.

“She offered the first glimpse inside the government’s four-year-long probe of Marineland, the only place in Canada where whales are still in captivity.

“Five belugas have died at the park in the last year and 17 have died since late 2019, government records show. Three other belugas sold to a Connecticut aquarium in 2021 have since died.”

If any of the papers listed above is local to you, I urge you to write there (you should easily find the address by googling “Send a letter to the editor of ….” inserting the paper’s name. Otherwise, sending a letter to the Toronto Star is a good choice as it is a leading Canadian paper.

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In other major media animal news, which I have posted over the last week to the DawnWatch X Feed and the DawnWatch Facebook page.

–The fabulous Mutts Cartoon strip, syndicated in newspapers throughout the world, has been celebrating “Shelter Appreciation Week” and focusing on older dog adoption. If you check out Monday’s cartoon you can scroll down the page and see the others for the week under “You might also like.” They are all worth checking out and sharing.

–The Guardian ran an opinion piece by Oliver Milman, titled, “Squirrels, whales, bears: why is the road to the White House strewn with dead animals?” The answer he gives is in the subtitle: “Reports of casual cruelty to animals during the presidential race are more about gaining votes than concern for their welfare.” And the piece makes important points, such as with this quote from Wayne Pacelle of Animal Wellness Action:

“It’s a missed opportunity by politicians to connect to animal welfare issues which is a universal issue for all voters. We have a big problem with animals in our society – we have factory farming, trophy hunting, we have puppy mills, cock and dog fighting. These are big problems and there is the public will to do something about them. Instead, we have this.”

But that argument ignores a well-known truth in advertising and advocacy — that people respond far more passionately to a story of a single injustice than to a story of millions.

— My Twin Tiers brought us the good news that Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz, of the 15th Assembly District in Long Island, has put forth Peanut’s Law, a New York State Environmental Conservation Law aimed at reforming animal seizure protocols. That link includes a strong interview with the Assemblymember.

And the New York Times ran, “Death of a Pet Squirrel is a GOP rallying cry.” I can share this gift link from DawnWatch to that one.

— On a similar topic, the Sacramento Bee has announced, “Shasta County will pay $300K to settle slaughter of girl’s pet goat seized by sheriff’s deputies.”

— A story in USA Today is likely to help rehabilitate the image of rats, who are helping save wildlife. It is titled, “Are giant rats the future in sniffing out wildlife trafficking? Watch the rodents at work.”

— A story that has had less coverage than we might like but was updated by the Associate Press today announces

” 1 monkey recovered safely, 42 others remain on the run from South Carolina lab.” We read, ” The facility breeds the monkeys to sell to medical and other researchers.”

How is that still a thing? If that AP story is in your paper tomorrow, I urge you to respond.

Ending on a sweet note, I share, from the Washington Post (with thanks to Lew Regenstein for sending it our way) a tale of a bonded pair of dogs, one deaf and one skittish, who finally got adopted together. Enjoy this gift link.

Yours and all animals’,
Karen Dawn of DawnWatch