Senate Bill 666 is a proposed Missouri law that would put non-human primates and their owners at the mercy of the state, and would among other things provide for the following:
- microchipping all non-human primates
- mandatory permits, including fees, for the keeping of a non-human primate
- for non-human primates to be caged at all times
- required liability insurance coverage for $250,000.
- posting large and conspicuous signs on their property that there is a non-human primate on the premises.
- obeying any and all regulations to be promulgated in the future about exactly how to care for a non-human primate, and what the premises where one is kept will consist of.
Despite all the calls that we made to the Senate Agriculture Committee, it seems that there was a vote in favor of SB 666 on February 29, 2012.
If this bill passes, it is quite likely that I will lose Bow. It represents a financial hardship that I will not be able to carry, and I have no means to raise the funds to pay for the insurance alone, much less the permit, the microchipping (a process which would pose a health danger to Bow and to anyone attempting to impose it on him) , the signs, the inspections, and the countless government intrusions into my life and home and family, to meet regulations that can change at any moment and where the sky is the limit as to what they might be.
Rather than going into all the details, I would like to share some videos with you, so that you understand what sorts of things these lawmakers want to make impossible not just for my family, but for all other families who adopt non-human primates now and into the future.
Here is a video of our family on vacation:
When Bow was little, he was not that difficult to travel with. He posed no danger to others, and he and Sword could play freely. He did not need to be locked up. We had so many great times together.
As Bow grew older, I did find the need to place him in an enclosure. Nobody had to tell me to do it. I understood by myself that the time for free roaming had come to an end. I built a sturdy enclosure in my own home, and it is very secure.
Bow is still part of my family, and we still interact freely, and the public is still safe.
Here is a video of Bow at his most recent birthday:
If something is not done between now and August of this year to put a stop to this legislation, Bow and I may be separated forever. It is in your hands! Call the Missouri State Legislature and the members of the Agriculture Committee:
Chair: Brian Muntzlinger
Senator Brian Munzlinger’s phone number – (573) 751-7985
Vice Chair: Mike Parson
Senator Mike Parson’s phone number – – (573)751-8793
Member: Dan Brown
Senator Dan Brown’s phone number – (573) 751-5713
Senator Dan Brown
Member: Chuck Purgason
Senator Chuck Purgason’s phone number – – (573) 751-1882
Senator Chuck Purgason
Member: Bill Stouffer
Senator Bill Stouffer’s phone number – – (573) 751-1507
Senator Bill Stouffer
Member: Victor Callahan
Senator Victor Callahan’s phone number — (573) 751-3074
Senator Victor Callahan
Member: Ryan McKenna
Senator Ryan McKenna’s phone number — (573) 751-1492
Sentator Ryan McKenna
These people are personally responsible for this law. Tell them that they will be held accountable by the voters for their actions. Representative government requires constant vigilance.
I’m terribly sorry this is happening to Bow and you. My state, Ohio, has a history of mistreating privately-owned primates and other animals and we may have helped cause the legislation. I apologize on behalf of the animal abusers here. It is heartbreaking for you to lose what has become a family member and to see him and the family subjected to scrutiny and high fees.
I’m a MO resident and an animal lover! I hooe this doesn’t pass and I will make that call!!
Good luck and I hope Bow is able to stay with you!
Thanks, Kelly! I appreciate that so much!
Here are the numbers of the members of the Ag committee:
Senator Brian Munzlinger, Chairman – (573) 751-7985
Senator Mike Parson, Vice-Chairman – – (573)751-8793
Senator Dan Brown – (573) 751-5713
Senator Chuck Purgason – (573) 751-1882
Senator Bill Stouffer – (573) 751-1507
Senator Victor Callahan -(573) 751-3074
Senator Ryan McKenna – (573) 751-1492
Ha! Thanks – I just came back to find where I phone – doing it now!
Thanks, again, Kelly! I really do appreciate it.
Patty, I just now saw your comment. I hear that two exotic animal owners recently died under mysterious circumstances in Ohio. I appreciate your sympathetic sentiments on behalf of my family. However, it’s not animal abusers who pass these laws, so the blame cannot be leveled squarely at them, anymore than we can say that terrorists are the ones who are responsible for stripping our civil rights away by passing such laws as the Patriot Act. The blame lies with the people who support such legislation and certainly those who help to pass it. That’s why I’m posting the photos of the people on the committee. These are not nameless, faceless malefactors. They are our representatives, and we need to leash them.
I very much hope this law does not pass because it would be sad for both you and Bow. Have you talked to the Ron Paul supporters in your state? I think you might be able to get some extra support this way.
Sweetbearies, thanks for your support and your kind thoughts. Yes, I am in touch with Ron Paul supporters in my state, and they promised to spread the word. I am feeling hopeful.
There are a few things I don’t understand:
– You paint a beautiful picture of your family on vacation but you can no longer go on vacation, at least not with Bow. He is locked up and you are locked up. Why is this a good life for him?
– Sometimes you call Bow your son and sometimes you call him a chimpanzee and sometimes your chimpanzee son. Which is it?
– I see in your videos that you keep Bow’s pen immaculate. The only thing I usually see is his toilet. You know yourself how intelligent chimpanzees are. The sanctuaries and the good zoos put a lot of time, thought and effort into enrichment for their chimps. How do you keep Bow occupied? Doesn’t he get bored?
Misty, thank you for your comment. I don’t know what state you live in, but if you live in Missouri, please call your state senator to ask that SB 666 not be passed.
If you really care about chimpanzees, you will understand that being taken by force would be bad for Bow, regardless of whatever concerns you may have about our current lifestyle. If you are a good person, you will also understand that laws like SB 666 that attempt to do by force what might be done by persuasion, are contrary to the American way.
More on this here:
http://aya-katz.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Recognize-Bad-Legislation
As for your questions: Bow is a chimpanzee. I never denied that. He is my son because I adopted him. Therefore, he is my adopted son. He is also, quite logically, my chimpanzee adopted son. Why do you have trouble reconciling these things? They are not mutually exclusive.
No, we can’t go on vacation anymore, and we are trapped in a cage. But we are together, and Bow is surrounded by people who love him. In a sanctuary, without me and Lawrence, he would still be in a cage, but he would be among strangers. Do you imagine that he would have more freedom there? How would he tell his jailers what he wanted? How would he complain? Would he have access to a letter board? Would he have access to Skype? What would he do if he didn’t like the food? What if another chimp attacked him? Who would intervene for him? Who would act as his advocate?
I know all about what happens in these sanctuaries, and I know it is not all good. But this does not mean that I do not want Bow to interact with his own kind. I have been striving for that since he was three. Ask the people at the Great Ape Trust.
I have tried again and again to get zoo keepers, other researchers and sanctuaries to agree to a Skype conference between Bow and other chimpanzees. Why are they not willing? Is it because their own chimpanzees are given no communication with the outside world? Is it because they are afraid of what would happen if Bow did speak to them?
Yes, I keep the enclosures where Bow and I live clean. If I didn’t, I imagine you would be complaining that the premises are unsanitary. Can’t you see how two-faced that is?
Bow has toys, computers, blankets, and other playthings. He can ask for and play with anything he wants. When he wants to play with something else, he usually hands me the object he has and asks for another. The kind of enrichment that zookeepers and sanctuary people use is necessary precisely because in zoos and sanctuaries chimpanzees are routinely bored. They have no real goals to work toward, so they are given artificial goals.
I would love for us to be able to join other chimpanzees and other researchers in a friendly community that would accept me and Bow both. The isolation we suffer from is because so far, all the friendly people who say they want to help Bow have made it clear that they want to take Bow, but there is no place for his family in their world. Why do you think that is right?
Why am I a bad person if I don’t agree with your political views, i.e., oppose SB 666?
I think it’s terrific that you keep Bow’s pen so clean. But by doling out one toy, one blanket, etc., at a time isn’t that a way for you to control him instead of putting out multiple objects and letting him choose?
Misty, good people don’t try to use the law to take by force what they cannot get by trade. It is a moral issue, and it goes far beyond Project Bow and me and my family.
http://aya-katz.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Recognize-Bad-Legislation
I am letting Bow choose what he does. Bow has the right to express himself. He has the right to disagree. He also understands consequences. Do chimpanzees in zoos and sanctuaries have this much control over their lives? Do they get to decide they don’t want an object in their cage? Do they get to decide what they will eat? Do they have a say in the menu?
BTW, your next comment, if it is very unsympathetic to my point of view, will have to be published on a site that you pay for. This is the meaning of freedom of the press. That whoever owns a press gets to impose his standards.
I have to wonder about Misty’s comment, and what it is trying to convey. I have seen teachers in elementary school limit students to one play thing at a time, or one crayon at a time. Having multiple choices is not necessarily going to make you a happier person. I live in SoCal where people have unlimited choices of shopping, fast food, and many other things. I still hear people complain about their lives here just as much as people who live in the countryside with more limited stores and franchises. I have never met Bow personally, but I can tell he has a very rich and fulfilling live via the videos Aya shares with us.
Thanks, Sweetbearies. Those are good examples. I think having choices and a way to express preferences is the essential to personal autonomy. The idea that being given everything, whether you want it or not, is more empowering does not make sense to me.
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