Their Turn - The Social Justice Movement of Our Time Their Turn - The Social Justice Movement of Our Time

VIDEO: Heads Turn in Oakland as Activists Protest New York Blood Center’s Owen Garrick

March 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment


The News

As hundreds of workers entered and exited their office building in downtown Oakland on March 18th, one thing became clear to the activists who were outside protesting their neighbor from Suite 013:  Most of them already knew that Owen Garrick abandoned chimpanzees in Liberia from news coverage and prior protests, and most were grateful that people were speaking out on behalf of the chimps.

“Owen Garrick must be using a back entrance and taking the stairs in order to avoid facing people in his building,” said protest organizer and primatologist Bob Ingersoll. “After three protests, his neighbors have told us they know who he is and about the moral crime he committed.”

Advocates distributed several hundred handouts to Owen Garrick's neighbors in Oakland, CA

Advocates distributed several hundred handouts to Owen Garrick’s neighbors in Oakland, CA

Animal rights activists stage protest in Oakland at the office building of NY Blood Center Board Member Owen Garrick

Activists stage protest in Oakland at the office building of NY Blood Center’s Owen Garrick

Activists are protesting Owen Garrick and his colleagues on the board of the New York Blood Center because they all bear responsibility for the organization’s decision to abandon their former lab chimpanzees on desert islands with no food or water after promising to provide them with lifelong care. For a thirty year period starting in the mid-1970s, NYBC conducted invasive research experiments on over 400 hundred chimpanzees in Liberia, where they could capture chimps in the wild, breed them in captivity and experiment on them with little regulatory oversight.

Curious neighbors open their windows to find out why people are chanting in front of their building

Curious neighbors open their windows to find out why people are chanting in front of their building

In May, 2015, the NY Times reported that the blood center walked away from its $25,000 monthly obligation, leaving the chimps to die of starvation and thirst while arguing that animal welfare groups should pay for the long-term care of the chimps. To date, NYBC has earned an estimated $500 million in royalties off of the research conducted on the chimps.

Chimps abandoned by the New York Blood Center are fed once daily with money donated by the public

Chimps abandoned by the New York Blood Center are fed once daily with money donated by the public

Your Turn

Please join the Facebook page: New York Blood Center: Do the Right Thing to stay apprised of news and to participate in online actions to pressure NYBC board members to fulfill their promise to provide lifelong care to their laboratory chimps.



Comments via Facebook

TheirTurn.net Comments

  1. Those people are responsible for the care and feeding of the chimps…they brought them here and they used them…now they owe them care for the rest of their lives. They might find them some homes in zoos, but it would be nicer for them to live in an area that most closely resembles what they came from…and provide food, shelter and medical care for them if they need it. At any rate, they can’t just dump them and walk away. I wonder if any would make suitable pets…if people are allowed to have chimps where they live.

  2. Sandra Grady says:

    Fine them heavily so there will be enough money to pay people to care for the chimps. Hopefully there are zoos in America and other countries that might be able to take some of them as well. It would be well if they could go back to the country of origin but at this point they have no survival skills at all… it is a sad and totally irresponsible situation those jerks have left for others to fix.

Comments are closed.