A federal judge has ruled that chimpanzees previously used for research in a New Mexico laboratory can be transferred to an animal sanctuary. A U.S. District Court judge in Maryland found this week the National Institutes of Health legally cannot refuse to send chimpanzees in the Alamogordo Primate Facility to a sanctuary. It would violate the Chimpanzee Health, Improvement, Maintenance and Protection Act. The law was established in 2000 to fund a federal chimpanzee sanctuary system. The order is in response to a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States last year. According to the federal agency, 30 chimps remain in Alamogordo because of medical conditions and social attachments.
Judge rules Alamogordo lab cannot keep research chimps
Courtesy of the Humane Society of the United States