ACTION ALERT

Chimpanzee exploited in Entertainment Weekly
February 25, 2008

In the January 25, 2008, issue of Entertainment Weekly, a story titled "Conan O’Brien’s Strike Diary" featured photographs of Conan O’Brien posing with a young chimpanzee “actor” named Louie.

What you can do:

Please contact Entertainment Weekly and express your disappointment in their irresponsible choice to exploit a great ape in their magazine.

You can email Entertainment Weekly at letters@ew.com.

* If you send an email, please copy Primate Patrol at primatepatrol@chimpsanctuarynw.org for tracking purposes.

Sample Letter/Email

Dear Entertainment Weekly,

I was saddened and disappointed to see the young chimpanzee Louie exploited in the January 25, 2008, issue of Entertainment Weekly. Chimpanzee “actors” are taken away from their mothers at birth, causing irreparable psychological harm. Training methods are physically and psychologically abusive, and “retirement” at age 6 or 7 usually means being cast off to roadside zoos or other substandard facilities.

Further, using chimpanzees for entertainment purposes sends terrible messages to the public – including the misconceptions that chimpanzees are not an endangered species and that chimpanzees make good pets (which couldn’t be further from the truth). Both of these fallacies continue to exist because of the prevalence of chimpanzee “actors” in media.

Please make the responsible decision never to exploit great apes in your publication again. I look forward to hearing from you on this urgent matter.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]