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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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MONTH: MAY 2006
A 2nd ex-OSU chimp dies at Primarily Primates
SAN ANTONIO–– A second former Ohio State University laboratory chimp has died soon after arrival at the Primarily Primates sanctuary in Leon Spring, Texas.
Bobby, 16, was found dead in his cage on April 20, about seven weeks after the death of Kermit, 35, who was at Primarily Primates for less than a day.
Necropsy results due as the May 2006 edition of ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press are expected to find that as with Kermit, Bobby died from a pre-existing heart condition. “Bobby did visit a cardiologist about five years ago and was put on heart medication,” Primarily Primates spokesperson Vernon Weir told ANIMAL PEOPLE. “I understand that the university stopped this medication several years ago, presumably because it was not necessary over the long term.
“Unfortunately retirement facilities such as Primarily Primates are always taking in animals who have been ‘used up’ by others,” Weir added. “Many years ago, for example, Primarily Primates took in a very large colony of cottontop tamarins. They had been used in colon cancer research. It’s no mystery that many have died from colon cancer.”
Bobby and Kermit were among nine chimps sent to Primarily Primates after OSU closed a chimp lab directed for 23 years by faculty member Sally Boysen. OSU pledged $324,000 to Primarily Primates to fund the chimps’ care and construction of housing.
Boysen bitterly fought the lab closure, and enlisted the help of PETA to try to block the transfer to Primarily Primates. Boysen has reportedly sued OSU, seeking to recover the chimps or send them elsewhere.