Comments On: International Primate Protection League News excerpts

IPPL NEWS vol. 25 no.1 April 1998 (excerpts part one)
IPPL - 25 YEARS OLD
1998 is IPPL's 25th year. Put another way, we have now been working for a quarter century to protect all the world's primates. I have been with IPPL from the very beginning. I was living in Thailand when I realized the need for an animal protection organization that would work solely for the apes, monkeys, and lesser primates of the world. So I printed up some letterhead and IPPL was on its way!
Some of our Field Representatives and Advisers from those early days when I was still in Thailand (I left in 1975) are still with us. Among them are Professor Vernon Reynolds of Oxford University, England; the eloquent writer Charles Shuttleworth of Taiwan; Marjorie Doggett of Singapore; Dr. Cohn Groves of Australia; S. T Baskaram and Dr. S. M. Mohnot of India; Dr. Frances Burton of Canada; Drs. William McGrew and Arthur Westing from the USA; Dr. Jane Goodall; and Dr. Barbara Harrisson, orangutan and Asian art expert.
All of these wonderful people have been great assets to IPPL for well over two decades now and we and our primate constituency all owe them all a debt of gratitude.
During these years we have undertaken frontline investigations of the trade in live primates. I survived lawsuits ftom an Austrian multinational corporation whose efforts to set up a chimpanzee laboratory in Sierra Leone IPPL opposed (the lab was never set up) and from an animal dealer whose orangutan smuggling we exposed (he was later sent to prison and he and his lawyer were each forced to pay me $25,000 in court-ordered sanctions).
At IPPL Headquarters we enjoy the company of 30 delightful gibbons, many of them veterans of research laboratories enjoying the pleasant Lowcountry lifestyle! Each has such a different personality.
As we start our next 25 years, we would like to thank you for your generous help and express our hope that we will remain worthy of your support.
Yours sincerely, Shirley McGreal
Holiday Cheer!
At the holiday season, IPPL receives hundreds of greeting cards from members from all over the world. Many of them have animal themes. They cover every door and cupboard at Headquarters! Thanks to everyone who sent such wonderful cards that bring an atmosphere of seasonal good cheer to our office.
IPPL GIBBONS STAR ON CNN!
During the weekend of 6-8 March 1998, CNN viewers were repeatedly shown a wonderful segment about the IPPL gibbons produced by Jennie Garlington of "Earth Matters."
Among the "stars" were Tong, a female Concolor gibbon, who tried to grab a CNN camera to take pictures of humans (!) and Peppy and Helen, whitehanded gibbons who came to us from New York Medical Center way back in 1982. Peppy is one of our "suck-a-thumbs" (Elizabeth is the other). Some years ago Peppy sucked his finger raw (it looked like meat). So we asked our veterinarian for advice on what to do. He said there was no way to stitch it up, so we should just wait and see if it would heal.
It did quickly, and Peppy has never sucked his thumb too hard again! So IPPL and the gibbons had their proverbial "five minutes of fame."
Thanks to Jennie and her crew for giving IPPL's work national exposure!
Brad and Trouble
User Host = ww-tb01.proxy.aol.com

IPPL NEWS vol. 25 no.1 April 1998 (excerpts part two)
DELTA AIRLINES AND THE MONKEY TRADE
Many airlines now refuse to carry monkeys for a variety of reasons. Delta Airlines has in the past always been willing to carry monkeys (as has Northwest, another US carrier).
Delta Airlines is based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The company has a service called "Delta Dash" whereby shippers deliver consignments to an airport check-in counter for a specified itinerary.
"Delta Dash" was the preferred service used by animal dealers shipping baby monkeys to purchasers of pets. Sometimes monkeys just a few days old would be shipped. Now new International Air Transport Association (IATA) mandatory rules ban shipment of unweaned infant monkeys, and it appears that Delta will no longer participate in this sordid trade.
Suzanne Stubbs, analyst with the Delta Cargo Logistics Center, informed IPPL in a letter dated 26 February 1998.
This letter is in response to your letter of concern regarding the transport of unweaned/suckling primates. At the IATA Live Animal Board meeting in October 1997, current policy and procedure as stated in the 24th edition of the Live Animal Regulations Manual for the transportation of non-human primates was an agenda item discussed by the board members. The members voted to amend the 25th edition of the Live Animal Regulations Manual to reflect the change in policy to read as follows:
Carriage of pregnant females will not be permitted.
Carriage of mother and suckling young will not be permitted.
Carriage of unweaned primates will not be permitted.
...Delta has adopted the regulations and reqitirements setforth in the IATA Live Animals Regulations Manual as our policy for all live animal shipments. Delta will be incorporating this new policy into the appropriate manuals and publications to ensure all affected personnel are aware of our new guidelines.
Being based in Atlanta, Georgia, Delta Airlines was aware of the incident in which a young woman employed by the Yerkes Primate Center died of Herpes B virus in December 1997 (see, "Herpes B Tragedy at Yerkes," this issue. Press articles about the tragedy note that the young woman was not known to have been scratched or bitten by a monkey. As a result, Delta Airlines has banned shipment of macaques, but not shipment of other species. Ms. Stubbs informed IPPL in a letter dated 24 February 1998:
in answer to your specific question of Delta's policy regarding the Macaque species of monkeys, on December 23, 1997, Delta implemented procedures specifically designed to provide the safest workplace possible for our employees with regard to the transport of any member of the Macaque species of monkeys. In the guidelines distributed to the field personnel, agents were advised that Delta would immediately discontinue the acceptance of the Macaque monkeys to avoid possible exposure to the Herpes B virus.
Although Delta personnel are not required to handle these monkeys, direct exposure is still possible through the ventilation holes of the container.
Delta agents were also advised that no other non-human primate (monkey or ape) are known carriers ofthe Herpes B virus and are therefore not affected by this directive; only the Macaque species.
It has always been Delta Air Lines' corporate policy to accept shipments of any animals under only the most humane conditions possible and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. We remain cognizant of our responsibility to meet and exceed our obligation on each and every animal shipment accepted, handled and transported. We would appreciate your assistance in advising members of your organization about our policy.
IPPL has drawn Delta's attention to the possibility that dealers wishing to ship macaques may falsely or misleadingly misidentify macaques as "Javas," "Pigtails," "Capuchins" or by any other name except "Macaque." Brad and Trouble
User Host = ww-tb05.proxy.aol.com

IPPL NEWS vol. 25 no.1 April 1998 (excerpts part three)
STAND UP! SIT DOWN! SPEAK OUT!
These are the fighting words of primate lover Rick Bogle. During 1997, Bogle has travelled around the United States by car to conduct vigils outside each of the seven US regional primate centers.
These are the University of Washington Primate Center, Seattle, Washington; the Oregon Regional Primate Center, Beaverton, Oregon; the Wisconsin Primate Center, Madison, Wisconsin; the Yerkes Regional Primate Center, Atlanta, Georgia; the New England Regional Primate Center, Southboro, Massachusetts; the Tulane Primate Center, Covington, Louisiana, and the Califomia Primate Research Center, Davis, California.
Bogle travelled with the "Ape Army," a collection of stuffed monkey toys. His protests were all peaceful and, in all locations, he was helped by local animal-lovers.
Bogle ran into trouble in California. Local police told him he could not vigil during his usual hours (5 a.m. to 10 p.m.). Instead he could not arrive earlier than 8 a.m. and had to leave by 4 p.m. This meant that most center employees would not see Bogle and "The Ape Army."
Rick Bogle did not compromise. As a result he was arrested and cited for "trespassing" and told not to return to the university. When he did, he was arrested again and bail was set at $3,000. Bogle's clothes and property were taken and he was strip-searched and placed in "the hole," the special area of the prison reserved for prisoners who misbehave.
For nearly four days Bogle was not allowed to bathe and he was given no toilet paper, no mirror, and no pillow. The light in his cell shone brightly 24 hours a day. Rick Bogle accepted the abuse philosophically, saying:
More than anything else my stay in solitary confinement reinforced what I knew only intellectually about the conditions and plight of the primate prisoners held by our government. Most monkeys and apes are exponentially more sociable than humans. Literally thousands of them are held in isolation. The anguish I felt from only four days of such treatment pales to insignificance compared with a lifetime of loneliness. Throughout the NIH system monkeys are beating their heads against the walls of their cells, chewing holes in their arms, or huddling in helpless desperation.
Bogle finally left California on bail of $5,000. He awaits "trial" for his "crimes" which were to "Stand up! Sit down, and Speak out" -- for the primates incarcerated in the US primate centers.
Brad and Trouble
User Host = ww-tb05.proxy.aol.com