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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.


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What is New York Blood Center Board Member Owen Garrick Hiding?

February 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment


The News

If NY Blood Center Board Member Owen Garrick made one thing clear during the two day protest at his office, it’s that he desperately wants to avoid the spotlight. Garrick runs a for profit business out of the office of a charity he created. His business is not listed on the company directory in the lobby, and after the first two protests, he removed his business address from his company’s website.

Owen Garrick removed the address of his business from his company's website. Is that because he is running it out of the office of a charity he created?

Before and after — Owen Garrick removed the address of his business from his company’s website after the protests. Is that because he is running it out of the office of a charity he created?

He also removed himself from the list of employees of his own charity – the same charity where he operates his business. Before the protests, he was listed as the Treasurer and Founder. His wife continues to be listed on the charity’s website.

After the protests, Owen Garrick removed his name as an employee of the charity he created. He runs his business out of the office of this charity, but his business is not listed on the company directory in the lobby of his building.

After the protests, Owen Garrick removed his name as an employee of the charity he created. He runs his business out of the office of this charity, but his business is not listed on the company directory in the lobby of his building.

Perhaps a desire to remain anonymous is what triggered Garrick to nervously pace the lobby of his building as activists, who staged an unannounced protest, informed his neighbors that he signed off on a plan to leave 66 chimps to die on islands with no food or water.

Owen Garrick paced back and forth as activists protested in the lobby

Owen Garrick paced back and forth as activists protested in the lobby during their first protest, which was unannounced in advance.

One day after staging the unannounced protest, a larger group of approximately 20 protesters paid a second visit to Garrick’s place of business. This time, security was prepared and locked the door to the building — a major inconvenience to the hundreds of people who were coming and going during the rainy lunch hour rush.

While some people were angry about getting wet, others were grateful that people were willing to stand in the rain to be a voice for the chimps abandoned by Owen Garrick and his colleagues on the New York Blood Center’s Board of Trustees. Activists plan a third protest in the coming weeks.

During lunch hour, hundreds of people who work in Owen Garrick's building learned that he abandoned chimpanzees with no food or water.

During lunch hour, hundreds of people who work in Owen Garrick’s building learned that he abandoned chimpanzees with no food or water.

After conducting experiments on several hundred chimpanzees for 30 years at a laboratory in Liberia, the NY Blood Center promised to provide the survivors with lifelong care. In May, 2015, the NY Times reported that the blood center decided to walk away from its $25,000 monthly obligation, arguing that the government of Liberia and animal advocacy 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.

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 executives and board members to fulfill their promise to provide lifelong care to their laboratory chimps.

OWEN-GARRICK-POSTER-2


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Activists Protest INSIDE Office of NY Blood Center Board Member Owen Garrick

January 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment


The News

Owen Garrick, a businessman based in Oakland, California, ignored all of the courteous letters and emails asking for a meeting to discuss the 66 chimps abandoned in Liberia by the New York Blood Center, where he serves on the board. It should therefore have come as no surprise to him when local animal rights activists showed up at his desk wielding a banner and posters and staged a disruption in the lobby of his building.

Owen Garrick looks up from his desk to see activists holding a banner and posters with his face.

Owen Garrick looks up from his desk to find activists with a banner and posters displaying his name and face

Only the activists didn’t visit Garrick’s place of business to talk because he had already made it clear that he wasn’t amenable. Instead, they showed up to educate his co-workers and neighbors about the moral crime he committed by leaving chimps to die and to inform Garrick that they will continue to protest until he and his colleagues at the NY Blood Center fulfill their promise to provide the chimps with lifelong care.

When protesters confronted Garrick in his office, his only verbal reaction was, “I’m going to get security.” He did, however, deliver a palpable non-verbal cue — bewilderment about how to handle a group of activists staging a loud protest in the lobby of his building during the lunchtime rush.

Owen Garrick paced back and forth as activists protested in the lobby

Owen Garrick paced back and forth as activists protested in the lobby

Owen Garrick paces lobby while activists stage disruption

Owen Garrick paces the lobby while activists stage disruption

The activists suspected that Garrick was especially alarmed by the disruption being staged in his name because of his apparent effort to remain anonymous in the building. In the company directory in the lobby, his business, Bridge Clinical Research, is not listed. What is listed is a charity created by Garrick and his wife. Did Garrick intentionally leave his business off of the building directory because he is running it out of the office of his charity?

Did Owen Garrick intentionally leave his company, Bridge Clinical Research, off of the lobby directory because he is working out of his charity's office, which is listed?

Owen Garrick’s company, Bridge Clinical Research, is not listed on his building’s directory

And why does Garrick use different suite numbers for the same office – Suite 013 and Suite LL13?

Owen Garrick runs his company out of the office of his charity.

Owen Garrick runs his company out of the office of his charity

Primatologist Bob Ingersoll confronts Owen Garrick in his office

Primatologist Bob Ingersoll confronts Owen Garrick in his office

Your Turn

Please call Owen Garrick at the following two numbers, and ask him to reinstate funding for the chimps who he left to die with no food or water:
(510) 251-0490
(510) 835-1747

OWEN-GARRICK-POSTER-2


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