Awareness is being raised about a group of 15 chimpanzees, dubbed the Rockville 15, who are being unnecessarily housed in unsatisfactory conditions at BIOQUAL Inc. laboratories in Rockville, Maryland. According to one activist, whose account can be read at Free the Rockville 15, the chimpanzees are housed one or two at a time in very small cages. Loud cries can be heard often from the animals, and they do not see the natural world outside of their glass cages. BIOQUAL has a long history of mistreatment of chimpanzees, going back 25 years to when Jane Goodall called for its closure. Things are changing at BIOQUAL, as evidenced by their phasing out of chimpanzee experiments. However, change is not happening fast enough for the Rockville 15. These chimpanzees are not being used for any research. There is no need for them to be housed at BIOQUAL. Instead, they need to be relocated to Chimp Haven, a sanctuary for retired chimpanzees, to live out the rest of their lives in more suitable conditions.
http://forcechange.com/26105/stop-the-unnecessary-suffering-of-research-chimpanzees/
