Rep. Stansbury Applauds Federal Court Ruling Requiring Transfer of Alamogordo Chimpanzees to Chimp Haven

WASHINGTON –U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) issued the following statement after a federal judge ruled that more than two dozen chimpanzees currently housed at the Alamogordo Primate Facility (APF) be transferred to a chimpanzee sanctuary:

“This court order is a major victory after years of advocacy on behalf of the chimps held at the Alamogordo Primate Facility. The facility currently houses over 30 chimpanzees that have not been used for research in over two decades in conditions that are ill-equipped to meet their needs. As our closest living relatives, we have an ethical and legal responsibility to ensure these chimps are able to live out the remainder of their lives with dignity and care. That’s why I have been working closely with advocates, Senator Heinrich, and other members of Congress—building on the work of Ambassador Tom Udall and Secretary Deb Haaland—to ensure these animals can be safely transferred to a federal sanctuary. Earlier this year, I led a bicameral, bipartisan letter calling on the Director of the National Institutes of Health to facilitate the transfer of these chimpanzees to Chimp Haven and held follow-up conversations with the Director of Research and other staff at the NIH. This last week, a federal judge has finally ruled that the surviving chimps must be transferred to the sanctuary as Congress intended when it passed the CHIMP Act. I applaud the work and persistence of Animal Protection New Mexico and the Humane Society of the United States in helping to lead this effort, and I look forward to the rapid and safe transfer of these chimpanzees to the Chimp Haven sanctuary.”

Rep. Stansbury’s letter to the National Institutes of Health Acting Director Dr. Lawrence Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D. can be found here.