Coulston Lab Folds; All Chimpanzees Retired

[Guest guest]

Contacts: Eric Kleiman, 717-939-3231; Suzanne Roy, 415-898-2720

 

COULSTON PRIMATE LAB FORCED TO SHUT DOWN; ALL CHIMPANZEES AND MONKEYS

RETIRED

 

In Defense of Animals Claims Unprecedented Victory

 

Alamogordo, NM (September 18, 2002) ­ For perhaps the first time in history,

an animal protection group has forced an animal research lab out of

existence, In Defense of Animals (IDA) announced today. IDA¹s victory was

made complete when the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care, a

state-of-the-art Florida sanctuary, said that it was permanently retiring

the 266 chimpanzees and 61 monkeys at the now-defunct Coulston Foundation,

including 16 of the famed ³space chimpanzees² abandoned by the Air Force and

babies whom the NIH tried to buy for research.

 

The stunning closure of the controversial lab ­ which had received well over

$40 million in government funding ­ came after an unrelenting eight-year

campaign by IDA prompted unprecedented regulatory action by the FDA, the

USDA, and other agencies, cessation of federal funds, international media

scrutiny, crippling losses of private clients, Congressional pressure, bank

foreclosure and, eventually, total financial collapse.

 

³We are deeply gratified that after eight years of work, we have obtained

justice for the chimpanzees who have suffered so long at the hands of The

Coulston Foundation,² said IDA president Elliot Katz, DVM.

 

Katz scoffed at the lab¹s spin on the developments, published in yesterday¹s

Dallas Morning News, in which a spokesperson claimed that Coulston had ³let²

the chimpanzees retire. Katz said the lab did not voluntarily do anything;

it was forced to approach the Center because of the total financial ruin

caused by IDA¹s campaign.

 

³It is in memory of Donna, Jello, Echo, Holly and all of the other

chimpanzees who lived and died so horribly at Coulston that we celebrate

this total victory,² Katz continued. ³This would not have been possible

without our network of courageous whistleblowers and the continuing support

of our members. And we can never thank enough the Center for Captive

Chimpanzee Care ­ led by Drs. Carole Noon, Roger Fouts and Jane Goodall and

supported by the incredible generosity of the Arcus Foundation as well as

the help of the New England Anti-Vivisection Society ­ for coming forward

and turning Coulston¹s demise into the impossibly perfect outcome of

permanent retirement for the surviving chimpanzees.²

 

In August 1995, Foundation CEO Fred Coulston was riding high, boasting of

becoming the ³sole source² of chimpanzees after gaining control of 650

(nearly half the U.S. population in labs) ­ many of them ³callously cast

aside² by the Air Force, New York University, the National Institutes of

Health (NIH) and New Mexico State University. At the time, the lab was

flush with millions of dollars in NIH and industry funding, and looking to

expand the use of chimpanzees with a $40+ million primate-aging center.

 

Today, Fred Coulston¹s depraved dream of ³cornering the market² on

chimpanzees is dead. The octogenarian toxicologist has directly blamed IDA

for his lab¹s demise. ³Even though The Coulston Foundation is dead, its

perverted view of chimpanzees as Œhairy test tubes¹ lives on,² Katz warned.

³Our work is far from over. IDA will not rest until all research on

chimpanzees ends, and each one of the 1,400 still imprisoned in labs is

forever freed from the horrors of experimentation.²

 

More information, including a detailed Chronology, Overview and Milestones

of IDA¹s campaign, as well as a listing of the unique individuals being

permanently retired by the Center, are available on the web at

http://www.vivisectioninfo.org/Coulston/totalvictory

 

*************

 

Erin Williams

Assistant Director

In Defense of Animals

131 Camino Alto

Mill Valley, CA 94941

415.388.9641 p

415.388.0388 f

www.idausa.org

 

It is the policy of In Defense of Animals to no longer use language that

accepts the current concept of animals as property, commodities and/or

things. Rather than refer to ourselves or others as " owners " of animals we

share our lives with, we now refer to ourselves and others as " guardians " of

our animal friends and to animals as " he " or " she " rather than " it. "

Guardians do not buy or sell animals; instead they rescue and adopt. We urge

you to do the same.