Freeing last chimps humane, ethical

This month, the National Institutes of Health announced it will retire the last colony of government-owned chimpanzees being held for biomedical research, including 20 that were subjected to decades of invasive, nonproductive testing at an Alamogordo research facility.

This week, as our nation celebrates the holiday season, there is no better symbol of humanity, of decency, of health and fiscal responsibility, than freedom for these animals considered the closest thing to human.

NIH Director Francis Collins says in an internal memo that “it is time to acknowledge that there is no further justification for the 50 chimpanzees to continue to be kept available for invasive biomedical research.”

Amen.

The NIH had announced in 2013 it would retire about 300 government-owned chimpanzees used for research but retained 50 primates — including the 20 from New Mexico — for potential biomedical research. Those 20 are now first in line to go to sanctuary.

This final freedom marks an end to decades of what has been reported on as bad ethics, bad science and bad spending. Dr. John Pippin, director of academic affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, says the move is “scientifically sound and ethically correct” as there is not “a single area of disease research for which chimpanzees are essential.”

New Mexico political leaders including then-Gov. Bill Richardson, then-Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Sen. Tom Udall have long advocated for an end to chimp testing.

So has Laura Bonar, program director of Animal Protection New Mexico. She says “the more you learn about chimpanzees, the more time you spend with them, it’s a lot like looking in the mirror. They are very similar to us emotionally. They experience pain, fear and anxiety.”

New Mexicans are giving thanks and gearing up for a season meant to focus on helping their fellow man. How appropriate to kick it off by finally giving peace and sanctuary to the last of a group of helpless, voiceless, yet sentient beings by hewing to what is ethically, scientifically and fiscally responsible.

— Albuquerque Journal