Rescues—Pozna and Martina

Pozna and Martina found themselves in a difficult spot back in 1996 when New York University made the decision to shut down LEMSIP (the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine & Surgery in Primates), which at the time housed nearly 200 chimpanzees and an even larger number of monkeys. The animals needed to be relocated, and quickly.

The only taker from within the research community was The Coulston Foundation, a New Mexico-based toxicology laboratory whose abysmal record of animal care and flagrant violations of the Animal Welfare Act had made them a ready target for animal rights activists for nearly a decade. Primate sanctuaries throughout North America rallied to help, but available space was scarce, and funds for their continuing care even scarcer. The Primate Rescue Center houses seven former LEMSIP chimpanzees: Martina, Ike, Noelle, Rodney, Jenny, Cory, and Pozna. (An eighth animal, a female named O-Soy, became critically ill shortly after she arrived in KY, and later died of an undetermined gastrointestinal ailment at LEMSIP, where she was taken for treatment.)

In the end, nearly 100 chimpanzees were shipped to Coulston, and sanctuary placement was secured for a similar number. In 1998, Coulston was “awarded” 111 chimpanzees deemed “surplus” by the U.S. Air Force. In 1999, in response to chronic, uncorrected violations of the animal Welfare Act, the USDA settled three sets of charges against The Coulston Foundation with a $100,000 fine and orders to restrict breeding and divest themselves of 300 chimpanzees (only half their colony) by 2002. In September 2002, with the Coulston Foundation on the verge of bankruptcy, the Arcus Foundation, together with our esteemed colleague Dr. Carole Noon at "Save the Chimps" in Florida, stepped forward and made a miracle possible for 266 of the remaining Coulston prisoners. Read more about their past—and now-bright future—at Save the Chimps.