July 4, 2014

   

Xenon, Leo and Chris	Nick, Mickey, Jobe & Xavier

The University of Georgia monkeys are home!! This Fourth of July we're celebrating two kinds of freedom -- most important, the monkeys' freedom to live, and our freedom to help these and other monkeys being freed from research labs! But freedom for monkeys isn't free, so a HUGE THANK YOU to our supporters who have been so generous to the UGA monkeys. We couldn't have gotten them here without YOU!

The monkeys arrived on Saturday, and the week has been crazy. We're using our new Bob Barker Medical Clinic for the first time, and do I ever mean using it! UGA donated the monkeys' cages, so we have them in the clinic's food prep area until the boys are ready to be released to their new outdoor habitats. Yesterday all seven monkeys had vasectomies performed by a visiting veterinarian, Dr. Darryl Heard. (All are recovering nicely.) Now these boys will be free to find girlfriends and enjoy..well..everything life has to offer!

I have so much to say about the support UGA has provided -- where do I begin? I will try to just hit the main points. We are so impressed with the UGA caregivers, who spent the night on the floor in the Bob Barker Clinic to be near the monks. THAT is how dedicated they are to the happiness and health of these monkeys. Even the truck drivers who brought the cages down spent the night and wanted to see everything they could at the sanctuary. The University of Georgia has proven they are committed to making sure these boys have a good life, and we welcome everyone from UGA back to the sanctuary to volunteer any time.

We heart the UGA caregivers!	Thank you Dr. Darryl Heard for all the vasectomies!

Many people have been asking what kind of research the UGA monkeys were in. It was behavioral research, where UGA students and faculty studied the monkeys' tool use, problem solving and interactions. Watch this video to see how Chris solves the problem of fitting a walnut through the cage bars!

Jersey just had to get in on the clinic action! He is lots better today and has been soaking up attention from his favorite humans.

In other monkey news... Sammy still has a terrible rash and we're still puzzled, but we won't give up on finding out what's wrong and fixing it!  Jersey surprised us by coming down with bacterial pneumonia, but he is a fighter and he's already doing better. And the 20 new cotton-top tamarins, the "Frat Boys," are adjusting to their new diet and have begun to venture outdoors in their runways. Finally, the Wooster monkeys are heading to Florida soon! Read the article in the Akron Beacon Journal.

We are doing our best to keep Facebook updated with photos and videos, so check us out!

To quote Kari Bagnall, "Phew, what a week!"

Helene Goldson
Volunteer and Board Member

 

P.S. Please make a donation to the Memorial Medical Fund so we can keep a step ahead of the medical costs for all of the monkeys.