Action Alert

Blender Magazine
September 23, 2007

The September 2007 issue of Blender Magazine features comedian Adam Samberg posing with a young chimpanzee “actor” named Mikey. Click here to view video footage of the disturbing photo shoot here.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please contact Blender Magazine and tell them chimpanzees are not props to be used for comedy. Let them know that young chimpanzees belong with their mothers, not in entertainment.

You can email the editor at your2cents@blender.com.
You also can write to Andy Samberg and let him know that supporting an abusive industry by agreeing to pose with a chimpanzee “actor” is unacceptable, and you hope he will make more responsible career choices in the future.

Andy Samberg
c/o Julie Darmody
9200 W. Sunset Blvd.
10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90069

Sample Email to Blender Magazine

Dear Blender Magazine,

I was extremely disappointed to see that your magazine chose to exploit a young chimpanzee in the September 2007 issue. While you may not have known this, the behind the scenes story on chimpanzee “actors” is very dark. Chimpanzees used in entertainment are taken away from their mothers at birth, which causes irreparable psychological harm. Training methods are physically and psychologically brutal and “retirement” at age 6 or 7 usually means being cast off to a roadside zoo or some other substandard facility.

In addition to welfare concerns, chimpanzees are an endangered species and using them for entertainment seriously hampers conservation efforts. I hope that in the future, you will come up with more creative and compassionate ways to promote your magazine.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]