'Ray of light': Lab chimpanzees to retire to sanctuary
More than 100 chimpanzees that have lived virtually their entire lives in scientific laboratories will be sent to retire at a national sanctuary called Chimp Haven, the National Institutes of Health said Tuesday.
These animals have made important contributions to research to improve human health, but new technologies have reduced the need for their continued use in research,” NIH Director Francis S. Collins said in a statement.
The 113 chimps currently live at the New Iberia Research Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where they’ve been used to research diseases and test and develop medicine. Most of them have never walked on grass or seen the sky without bars
The NIH had previously announced that just 10 chimps from New Iberia would move to Chimp Haven in Keithville, La., with the remaining 103 being sent to Texas Biomedical Research Institute in Texas. But animal rights activists objected. After months of negotiations, the NIH, the Humane Society of the United States and Chimp Haven agreed on the plan announced Tuesday
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/19/16000960-ray-of-light-lab-chimpanzees-to-retire-to-sanctuary?lite
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