A 2nd ex-OSU chimp dies at Primarily Primates

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2006:

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.

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