Victory! Chimpanzees rescued from a former hell for breeding

The Missouri Primate Foundation, part of the home of a woman named Connie Casey, has been a longtime PETA priority. But now the saga of the institution in Festus, Missouri has reached its turning point and …Spoiler alert– the main characters closed the book about the former kennel with a major victory: earlier this week PETA rescued all the chimpanzees left there.

By court order, we removed all six chimpanzees in the facility and they now live at the Great Apes Center, which is accredited by the World Federation for Animal Sanctuaries. There they will be adapted to the beautiful outdoor environment and provided with nutritious food, skilled grooming, and the opportunity to engage in the chimpanzee’s natural behaviors. They will never be exploited again.

Left: Chimpanzee Lisa Marie was born in a former nursery known as the Missouri Primate Foundation before being sold to a private owner as a “pet” and forced to live in a Chicago basement. | Right: Lisa Marie after PETA helped rescue her and transport her to a luxurious spacious hideout in 2015.

This rescue is the result of an Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance agreement filed by PETA and former Missouri Primate Foundation volunteer Angela Scott and reviewed by Judge Catherine D. Perry of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

PETA’s lawsuit alleged that the Missouri Primate Foundation, which breeds chimpanzees for the entertainment and exotic pet trade, violated ESA by placing animals in inappropriate social groups; their confinement in tight, inadequate enclosures; and depriving many of them of the ability to behave naturally, including interacting in large groups and interacting with complex and diverse environments.

Connor of the Missouri Primate Foundation

Those rescued include Connor (above), who was used for Hallmark greeting cards that are still on sale and who reportedly bit his handler and tried to attack three other people on the set of his last shoot, as well as Tammy, who was seen screaming by an eyewitness. and desperately looking for babies that were taken from her for sale. (One of Tammy’s daughters is believed to be Lisa Marie, pictured above, who was used in the entertainment industry and lived as a “pet” for years before PETA granted her a place in an accredited Florida wildlife sanctuary.)

Over the past three decades, the Great Apes Center has shown sympathy for more than 40 chimpanzees, five of which were originally born at Casey’s nursery in Missouri and later sold as “pets”. The six chimpanzees who moved to the sanctuary this week will meet their siblings for the first time, with Tammy eventually meeting one of her sons.

Under the consent agreement, Casey and Tony Haddix, the last former owner of chimpanzees, are prohibited from ever “owning and / or owning” a chimpanzee again.

While we look forward to seeing these great apes receive the skilled veterinary care they’ve been denied for a lifetime, we also continue to urge Hallmark Cards to do better for chimpanzees too, asking them to stop selling all clown greeting cards. vulnerable animals. Click below to join us:

Tell Hallmark Cards To Stop Exploiting Chimpanzees