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As New York Blood Center (NYBC) board member Michael Hodin walked toward his Manhattan home, activists protesting his decision to abandon 66 chimps with no food or water confronted him face-to-face for the first time. During previous protests outside of his luxury condo, Hodin has always watched from his windows.

Hodin, who is the CEO of the for-profit Global Coalition on Aging, stands by the Blood Center’s decision to abandon the chimps. “Hodin advocates for elderly humans, yet he signed off on a plan to leave elderly chimps to starve to death,” said Donny Moss of TheirTurn. “Elder abuse is elder abuse, regardless of the species. How sad that Mr. Hodin can’t connect the dots.”

Photo on the right by Jenny Desmond for HSUS

During the past year, the abandoned chimp protests at Hodin’s apartment have become more heated, as neighbors have grown weary of the presence of activists. In October, 2016, the New York Post ran a story about the protests (War Between Nonprofits Rages over Care of Research Chimps) in which a spokesperson for NYBC, Rob Purvis, made false claims about the activists:  “There have been attempts to enter trustees’ residences, and photos of trustees’ children and grandchildren have been posted online.”  

Christopher Hillyer, the CEO of this charity, had a compensation package that exceeded $1.5M as of 2014.

After conducting research experiments on almost 500 chimpanzees for 30 years and promising to provide the survivors with lifelong care, NYBC decided to abandon the 66 surviving chimps with no food or water on islands in Liberia, leaving them to die of starvation and thirst. Using money donated by members of the public, Citigroup and The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has stepped in on an emergency basis to cover the monthly costs associated with feeding the chimps.

Among the many organizations that have spoken out against the New York Blood Center are Citigroup, MetLife and the Jane Goodall Institute

Dr. Jane Goodall, one of many leaders in the animal welfare community who have spoken out against NYBC’s decision to starve their chimps, wrote the following in a letter to the organization’s CEO, Christopher Hillyer, “I find it completely shocking and unacceptable that NYBC would abandon these chimpanzees and discontinue support for even their basic needs. Your company was responsible for acquiring these chimpanzees, some we understand even from the wild, and thus has a moral obligation to continue to care for them for the remainder of their lives.”

NYBC made a commitment to provide the survivors of its experiments with lifelong care, but the organization changed its mind, leaving the chimps to starve to death on islands with no natural food or water.

Please join the Facebook page, New York Blood Center: To the Right Thing, to stay apprised of the campaign to hold NYBC accountable and to participate in online actions on behalf of the abandoned chimps.

After staging over 10 daytime protests at the home on New York Blood Center (NYBC) Board Member Michael Hodin and receiving no response, animal rights activists escalated their campaign by staging three nighttime protests, a change that is infuriating his neighbors. Hodin, along with his NYBC colleagues, abandoned 66 chimpanzees on islands in Liberia with no food or water after conducting experiments on them for three decades and making a public promise to provide the survivors with lifelong care.

As Hodin watched two of the protests from the windows of his multi-million dollar apartment, his neighbors, most of whom ignored the activists for months during the daytime protests, lambasted them for the nighttime disruptions. Activists told his angry neighbors to “take it up with Hodin.”

Activists plan to resume the night time protests at Hodin’s building after Labor Day, when area residents return from their summer vacations.

Use the tweet sheet to contact the NYBC and its corporate donors.

Sign the Care2 petition to MetLife, NYBC’s largest corporate donor.

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.

Follow TheirTurn on Twitter, and follow “Save NYBC Chimps”on Instagram and Twitter.

In spite of petitions, protests and letters from concerned citizens around the world, MetLife CEO Steven Kandarian continues to ignore the chimp crisis created by the NY Blood Center (NYBC), so activists took the campaign to his neighbors in Summit, NJ, an exclusive suburb of NYC.

MetLife is the largest corporate donor of the NYBC, which left 66 chimpanzees on islands in Liberia with no food or water after conducting experiments on them for 30 years; earning an estimated $500 million in royalties; and promising to provide them with lifelong care. Since May 2015, advocates worldwide have asked MetLife to hold NYBC accountable, but the company, which prides itself on “corporate social responsibility,” has refused to respond.

Advocates educate MetLife CEO Steven Kandarian’s neighbors about his complicity in the abandoned chimp crisis

While most of Mr. Kandarian’s neighbors were eager to hear why advocates were protesting in his neighborhood, one man (wearing pale blue shirt) virtually assaulted them as they marched through the town of Summit, which is one mile away from Mr. Kandarian’s mansion.

An inexplicably angry man in Summit, NJ, aggressively confronts advocates protesting MetLife CEO Steven Kandarian

On April 26th, animal rights activists in NYC staged a 30 minute disruption inside of the MetLife building at the height of rush hour. The company’s decision to ignore the protesters instead of engaging them triggered them to take the campaign to the CEO’s hometown.

Advocates protesting chimp abandonment march through the town of Summit, NJ

In an article entitled Animal Rights Group Protests Outside of MetLife CEO’s Residence in Summit, Mr. Kandarian’s hometown newspaper published a lengthy story about the protest.

Advocates inform Steven Kandarian’s neighbors about his complicity in the New York Blood Center abandoned chimpanzee crisis

Sign the Care2 petition to MetLife.

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.

Use the tweet sheet to contact MetLife, NYBC and their stakeholders.

Follow “Save NYBC Chimps” on Instagram and Twitter.

On April 26th, animal rights activists in NYC staged a 30 minute disruption inside of the MetLife building at the height of rush hour. Protesters demanded MetLife hold the New York Blood Center (NYBC) accountable for its decision to abandon 66 chimps in Liberia. As NYBC’s largest corporate donor and partner, MetLife can compel the organization to uphold certain ethical standards – or risk losing funding.

In May 2015, when the NY Times reported that NYBC cut off all funding for the chimps and their caregivers, advocates worldwide began contacting MetLife, believing that a company that prides itself on “corporate social responsibility” would intervene on behalf of NYBC’s victims. MetLife has neither responded to the communications nor made any public statements about the scandal.

Approximately 20 activists occupied the lobby of the MetLife building for 30 minutes during rush hour. Employees were diverted to the back exit.

Participants suspect that the police did not make trespassing arrests because MetLife does not want to draw more attention to the scandal

In November, 2015, primatologist Bob Ingersoll, who is the subject of the documentary film Project Nim, traveled from San Francisco to NYC to hand-deliver a petition to  MetLife asking the company to cut its support of NYBC until the organization reinstates funding for the chimps. While a representative from the company did collect the petition from him in the lobby, neither she nor anyone else from the company responded to him.

Primatologist Bob Ingersoll delivers petition to MetLife, asking company to cut funding to New York Blood Center

MetLife has considerable influence over the operations of NYBC, both as a donor as its rent-free landlord. MetLife donates space to the blood center in its global headquarters.

NYBC blood collection site in the MetLife building

In March, another NYBC donor, Citigroup, did respond to the call of advocates, issuing a public statement asserting that “the current situation is not tolerable” and making an unsolicited $50,000 donation toward the care of NYBC’s chimps. Until MetLife takes similar action, activists in the New York area intend to step up their campaign, staging protests at MetLife’s office buildings and at the homes of executives who have failed to respond to the global outcry.

Citigroup takes a principled stand on behalf of the chimps abandoned by the NY Blood Center

For a thirty year period starting in the mid-1970s, NYBC conducted experiments on over 400 hundred chimpanzees in Liberia, where they could capture, breed and experiment on them with little regulatory oversight. After the research was conducted, NYBC moved the survivors onto six islands with no natural food or water and made a public commitment to provide them with lifelong care.

The New York Blood Center abandoned 66 chimps in Liberia, leaving them to die of hunger and thirst

In May, 2015, the NY Times reported that NYBC had “withdrawn all funding for them,” leaving the chimps to die of starvation and thirst. In order to keep the chimps alive, Liberians who had been employed by NYBC to deliver food and water, began to care for them on a volunteer basis. With virtually no resources and burdened by the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, these volunteers kept the chimpanzees alive until an HSUS-led coalition of over 30 animal conservation groups raised funds from the public to pay for the chimps’ care on an emergency basis — until NYBC reinstates funding.

Jane Goodall attempted to meet with the NY Blood Center, but the organization refused.

Sign the Care2 petition to MetLife.

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.

Use the tweet sheet to contact MetLife, NYBC and their stakeholders.

Follow “Save NYBC Chimps” on Instagram and Twitter.

On November 5th, over 100 activists from ten states, including California, Texas and Montana, staged a massive protest at the New York Blood Center’s 50th anniversary gala, demanding that the organization’s board of directors reinstate funding for the lab chimpanzees who they abandoned on islands in Liberia with no food or water.

During a rally before the protest, Jane Velez-Mitchell (Jane UnChained) and Bob Ingersoll (primatologist featured in documentary film Project Nim) delivered remarks about the scandal and inspired the crowd to continue to be a voice for the chimps until the blood center fulfills its promise to provide them with lifelong care.

NYBC donors did not anticipate encountering over 100 protesters as they entered the gala

As guests began to arrive, activists quickly exited the barricades and staged a moving picket at the entrance of Cipriani, the venue where NYBC’s gala was held. Hundreds of donors were forced to navigate their way around the protesters in order to enter the building.

NYBC donors were forced to navigate their way through the moving picket line to enter the gala

Activists distributing handouts at the periphery of the protest said that many gala attendees were unaware of the scandal and were outrage to learn that NYBC abandoned at least 66 chimps.

Please join the Facebook page: New York Blood Center: Do the Right Thing to participate in the online actions. If you live in New York City, please join the protests targeting New York Blood Center board members at their homes and offices.