During the debate in the United States about the fate of hundreds of chimps that NIH (US National Health Institute) announced that it was retiring – they are scattered over a dozen medical torture centers – , the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of University of Texas, at Bastrop, launched the idea of ​​being reclassified as a “sanctuary” due the chimpanzees it keeps and no longer use, and are kept alive.

Why this college that tortured chimpanzees for years by inoculating them with a whole range of diseases and chemicals want to be worthy with all those innocent tortured for years?

In Capitalism it comes down to cost / benefit. When we were in this college, over 10 years ago, they were building some steel domes (photo) that were large cages to keep the chimps safely, and they were thinking of many years ahead. Maybe they already could see what would happen. Chimpanzees would be retired, would no longer be useful for biomedical research and instead of sacrificing them, as it was done 50 years ago, business was keeping them alive, for the lowest possible cost, so they could continue earning the daily cost that NIH pays for the maintenance of the chimpanzees owned by the Government under the care of private institutions.

If one considers that daily cost paid by NIH to the former torture centers is more than $ 50 a day, in a year, every chimpanzee kept alive generated over 20,000 dollars to the cost of government. The former torture center like this Faculty of Veterinary does not spend more than 10 to $ 15 on food and care to keep each primate. What remains is pure profit.

After making these simple calculations and multiply them by the hundreds of chimpanzees in this situation, it is understood because NIH is not interested in expanding Chimp Haven sanctuary, affirming it has no money, and prefer to continue supporting chimpanzees supposedly retired on current facilities, converting them into their prisons for life.

NIH has no money to build a sanctuary but has money to pay daily costs to former torturers centers of chimpanzees, which will continue exploring the existence of those innocent after making them suffer a lifetime.

The black box of NIH should be investigated by US regulatory agencies, because millions of dollars that would make the happiness of hundreds of chimpanzees are dilapidated by selfish humans, who have converted biomedical research with primates in a great deal for all involved.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International