SAVED! April, Anna, Lucy, and Cash

24 Chimpanzees and Counting

They were held captive – some for years – at Union Ridge Wildlife Center in Ohio – a backyard menagerie operating as an Airbnb accommodation. Confined mostly indoors and deprived of fresh air and sunlight, the chimpanzees had no autonomy and a poor quality of life. But PETA pushed for their release, filing complaints with state and federal officials, and all four were rescued and moved to a lush sanctuary!

It was a joyous scene when the foursome was reunited after arriving at Florida’s Save the Chimps sanctuary, with hugs and hoots all around.

Humans have long treated chimpanzees as subhuman, denying them agency and using them for everything from photo ops at seedy roadside zoos and pictures on corny greeting cards to experiments that are as irrelevant as they are cruel. Challenging this abuse, PETA has helped people see that great apes aren’t amusements, props, or test subjects but keenly intelligent social beings who deserve to live free from exploitation.

With major funding help from PETA, April, Anna, Lucy, and Cash are now relishing an expansive outdoor space to run, play, and climb; receiving quality veterinary care and nutritious meals; and making new friends. They are the latest among the two dozen chimpanzees whose rescue PETA has facilitated – and they won’t be the last.