The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) staged a massive protest at the headquarters of the New York Blood Center, the organization that abandoned 66 ex-lab chimpanzees on islands in Liberia with no food or water after earning $500 million in royalties off of the research.
The protest featured several prominent speakers, including Claudine André, the founder of the world famous bonobo sanctuary, Lola Ya Bonobo. Ms. André traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to participate.
Claudine André speaks at New York Blood Center protest
The theme of the protest was “Keep Your Promise” because New York Blood Center officials made a commitment to provide the chimpanzees with lifelong care.
New York Blood Center executives promised to provide its chimpanzees with lifelong care.
New York Blood Center (NYBC) board member Dr. Laurie Glimcher instructed the faculty, staff and students of Weill Cornell Medical College, where she is the Dean, to ignore New Yorkers who gathered at the school’s main entrance to protest NYBC’s decision to abandon chimpanzees in Liberia. With the vast majority of people from Cornell refusing to engage with or acknowledge the protesters and with many people actually laughing at them, activists had little incentive to be polite or professional:
NYBC left 66 chimps on islands near Monrovia, the country’s capital, with no food or water after experimenting on them for 30 years; earning $500 million in royalties off of the research; and making a promise to provide them with lifelong care.
Weill Cornell student suggests that activists are misinformed. Is Dr. Jane Goodall misinformed too?
In addition to instructing students, faculty and staff to ignore the protesters, Cornell distributed handouts, which attempt to distance Dr. Glimcher from NYBC’s crime, as people exited the building directly into the protest.
Students, faculty and staff at Weill Cornell Medical College laugh at and ignore activists protesting the Dean, Dr. Laurie Glimcher, who is on the board of the NY Blood Center
Students, faculty and staff at Cornell expressed no compassion for the chimps abandoned by their Dean, Dr. Laurie Glimcher of the NY Blood Center
Your Turn
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.
Activists protest Dr. Laurie Glimcher of the New York Blood Center at her 16 room condo in NYC
Since mid-August, thousands of people around the world have contacted Dr. Laurie Glimcher, a member of the board of the NY Blood Center (NYBC), asking her to reinstate the funds for the chimps who she and other NYBC executives abandoned in Liberia. Dr. Glimcher, who is Dean of Cornell Medical College in NYC, has ignored the personal letters, phone calls, petitions, emails, tweets and Facebook posts.
In September, great ape advocate Robert Ingersoll created a Change.org petition asking Indiana University to cancel a $25,000 award to Dr. Glimcher. When asked for a comment by the Herald Times, an Indiana newspaper that reported on the award, Dr. Glimcher refused to address the chimps, stating “My hope is that this week we can focus on the distinguished history and reputation of the Indiana University School of Medicine Steven C. Beering Award and its contribution to medical research.”
Hand-written letter delivered to Dr. Laurie Glimcher in advance of protests at her home and office
Dr. Glimcher’s silence, lack of compassion and complicity in NYBC’s decision to abandon the chimps have emboldened grass roots activists in NYC, who plan to continue protesting at her office and her six bedroom, seven bathroom apartment on the Upper East Side of New York.
Activists protest at home of Dr. Laurie Glimcher of NY Blood Center
Your Turn
Please join the Facebook page New York Blood Center: Do the Right Thing to join the campaign to compel Laurie Glimcher and the other NYBC board members to reinstate funding for the chimps.
Activists march from Laurie Glimcher’s office to her home in NYC
As Chairman of the New York Blood Center, real estate magnate Howard Milstein bears responsibility for the organization’s decision to cut funding for its former lab chimps who are living on six islands in Liberia. In an effort to convince him to fulfill his promise to provide lifelong care for the 67 surviving apes, New Yorkers have begun staging dramatic protests in front of the billionaire’s Park Avenue apartment building.
In spite of global pressure to reinstate the funding for the chimps, the NY Blood Center is digging in its heels, stating that it doesn’t own the them and that the government of Liberia is responsible for their care. They do not acknowledge that NYBC captured the chimps in the wild; bred them in captivity: held them prisoner in cages; experimented on them for 30 years; earned $500 million off the research; moved them to islands with no natural source of food and water; and made multiple promises to provide them with lifelong care.
Real estate tycoon Howard Milstein is Chairma of the Board of the NY Blood Center
TV journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell of Jane UnChained attended the first protest at Mr. Milstein’s home and filed this report:
The Real Deal, a real estate publication read by Howard Milstein’s peers, also has also reported on the grass roots campaign against him and the NYBC.
As New Yorkers prepare to expand the protests to the homes other NYBC board members, hundreds, if not thousands, of advocates in other parts of the world are taking action against the the Blood Center by participating in a grass roots campaign organized by the Facebook group, New York Blood Center: Do the Right Thing.
New Yorkers protest outside the home of Howard Milstein
In the streets, online and in the media, the NY Blood Center is being pressured to resume funding for the chimps’ care. On July 24th, the Daily Mail – one of the most widely circulated news publications in the world – posted a story that went viral: “Battle to Save the Hugging Chimps: Heartbreaking Story of 66 Apes and a Baby ‘Abandoned’ on Island by Medical Firm after They Finished Experimenting on Them.”
NYBC Chairman Howard Milstein cut funding to provide food and water to the organization’s lab chimps after earning $500 million in royalties off of the research.
Security was tight at the NY Blood Center, with a guard stationed at the door to prevent another protest inside the building. But that didn’t stop 15 activists from charging past him; occupying the lobby for 30 minutes; and using a bullhorn to ensure that employees throughout the building could hear about the crimes committed by their employer and the demand to reinstate funding for the chimps who they left to die with no food or water.
Jane Velez-Mitchell and Donna Dennison from JaneUnchained were there to document the disruption and the reaction from the NY Blood Center:
In May, the NY Blood Center told the NY Times it has no “contractual obligation” to care for their former lab chimps. That’s not good enough for leaders in the great ape community, including Dr. Jane Goodall, who say that NYBC has an ethical obligation. Like the grass roots activists who have staged two protests in their lobby, they are demanding that the NYBC reinstate the funding.
Activists occupy NY Blood Center to demand that its executives reinstate funding for the lab chimps they abandoned
Will NYBC executives continue to dig in their heels with the hope that activists will abandon their efforts to hold the them accountable? Or will they reinstate the funding for the chimps in order to prevent similar protests at the homes and offices of their executives, board members and donors?
Activists unroll police tape to convey the message that the NYBC is a crime scene
Follow Their Turn