Sanctuary offers a taste of freedom to abandoned chimps

EL PASO, Texas — The creatures, large as human beings, confined inside steel and concrete rattle the bars of their cells like tornados trapped in a cage. That storm in the midst of the blazing desert comes from two 150-pound chimpanzees that still bear the scars of neglect, abuse, and self-inflicted injuries they suffered during their time as subjects in medical experimentation. “I would like people to be aware of how chimps are used in laboratories in this country, regardless of how they feel about research I think we owe them something for what we have done to them,” said Jen Feuerstein the sanctuary director for Save the Chimps in the New Mexico area. Close to the border city of El Paso, Texas and yet unknown to most residents, the Save the Chimps sanctuary in Alamogordo, N.M. serves as the world’s largest rehabilitation center for these animals. “They lived like humans and interacted with humans only, but once they are too big to be controlled and used, they are suddenly dropped in a cage,” said Feuerstein.