Primates Are Suffering at a Fake Sanctuary—Take Action Now!
Although Suncoast Primate “Sanctuary” in Palm Harbor, Florida, bills itself as a “safe haven,” its numerous animal welfare violations tell a different story.
This operation was previously called “Chimp Farm,” and its original owners racked up so many violations that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) yanked the facility’s exhibitor’s license in 1999. Nearly a decade later, the location reopened under the misleading moniker “sanctuary,” but conditions there revealed it to be nothing of the sort. Its current operators don’t have the funds or setup necessary to meet the needs of the complex primates confined to this roadside zoo. The USDA recently issued Suncoast numerous citations for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act, including for not having an attending veterinarian to care for the animals properly, for subjecting animals to “heavily soiled” feeding tubes; enclosures with rust, chipping paint, untethered fencing, and sharp edges of metallic piping; and dangerous “enrichment” items that were cracked and broken.
Footage and eyewitness accounts of Suncoast document the confinement of lonely primates to small concrete cages with algae-covered toys and blankets. Without enrichment and socialization, primates can quickly become distressed, causing them to engage in abnormal, repetitive behavior. These conditions have landed Suncoast on PETA’s roadside zoo blacklist. The concrete cells at Suncoast are inhumane, and imprisoning chimpanzees, orangutans, and monkeys in this way is a form of speciesism—a human-supremacist worldview.
Please send polite comments to Suncoast at [email protected] urging the facility to work with the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance to make a plan to send these primates to legitimate, accredited sanctuaries, where they could finally get the care they desperately need:
Please feel free to use our sample letter, but remember that using your own words is always more effective.
