Dast2Dast

This Sunday 11/05/2006, PBS will kick off the 25th anniversary of NATURE with Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History. This poignant documentary by award-winning filmmaker Allison Argon tells the heart-wrenching stories of chimpanzees rescued from research labs and retired to sanctuary life. Learn more about the documentary here.

This is critical public exposure for the chimpanzees in research. Chimpanzees are humans' closest relative, yet they endure invasive and painful research. Approximately 1,300 chimps -- some captured from the wild -- remain in laboratories in the United States and many have been in these labs for more than 40 years. Their side of the story is starting to emerge. And it can be heard at the sanctuaries where many retired chimps now reside. It can be read in their medical records, seen in their mutilated bodies, or sensed through their psychological afflictions.

The similarities between chimps and humans, often the justification for using them as research subjects, are the very reasons why chimps should not be used. Chimpanzees experience a range of emotions, including depression, anxiety, pain, distress and empathy. These complex cognitive abilities and emotions make confinement of chimpanzees in cages and their use in research highly questionable on ethical grounds. These highly intelligent creatures also possess complex mental abilities, including self-conception, anticipation of future events, mathematical skills, tool use and acquisition of languages created by humans.

Please help make a difference for these thoughtful and complex creatures.

1. Tune into NATURE on Sunday, November 5 (check your local listings for exact times or visit PBS for additional airings).

2. Then tell the government to stop funding biomedical research & testing on Chimpanzees

Watch two chimps' voyage to freedom.