The Simian Library- History In The Making....... Chimpanzees, Orangutans, Gorillas, Bonobos & Monkey Species
You can also purchase a summary of this case for only $ 29.99 (click here).
From the Fall of 2008 Through 2009 – The Chimpanzee Year in Review
This past year has been one of sadness, sorrow, change, and hope. I would like to take this opportunity, as we begin 2010, to reflect back and highlight the changes that we now, hopefully, are really beginning to see as the world’s attitude towards privately owned chimpanzees, and primates in general, change in a positive way.
The highlights begin, actually, late in the fall of 2008 when our chimps, Mikey and Louie, the two busiest and most popular working chimpanzees in America, retired to Little Rock Zoo. I wanted them to have a future as part of a family of chimps, and to have a safe and permanent home that they could live their life as chimpanzees, not a member of the human society.
In November of 2009, Connor and Kramer the chimpanzees owned by private pet owner Jeanne Rizzotto escape from her home near Red Lodge, Montana. They spent over an hour running loose, crossing highways and entering neighbor’s property. Connor, a habitual biter as described in court papers filed after the incident, bites a woman on the arm as she tries to keep him out of her home, losing 6-8 inches of skin from her arm. Rizzotto is told to keep the chimps in quarantine at her home while health officials investigate the incident. Rizzotto claims the chimps were let out by a vandal that had cut a lock, however that remains unproven. All of these articles have been posted on this Simian Library.
In February, 2009, tragedy strikes, and the world’s attention turns to the issue of private ownership of chimpanzees. On a cold afternoon in Stamford Connecticut, Travis the Chimpanzee attacks a long time friend of owner Sandra Herold named Charla Nash in Herold’s driveway. Travis is shot and killed by a patrol officer as the 14 year old, 200 pound male chimpanzee; tries to pry open the door of his patrol car as he responded to the tragedy. Nash is rushed to the hospital, and remains in a coma for months.
Weeks later, in early March, the US House of Representatives passes the Captive Primate Safety Act, banning sales of all primates across state lines. The bill moves on to the senate, where it still sits, not being acted on, to this day.
In late November, 2008, neighbors turned in a couple in Houston, Texas for a chimpanzee living in a garage in a suburban neighborhood. Fred Henry, now known simply as Henry, was over fifteen years old and had been living in the garage in a cage for 15 years. Weighing only 65 pounds, about 100 pounds underweight, the emaciated chimp is taken to the local SPCA where veterinarians and animal officials nurse him back to health. On Feb 23, 2009, Henry is moved to Chimp Haven in Shreveport, LA to live out the rest of his life with other chimps in a safe and enriching environment.
Later in March, a chimpanzee named Timmy escapes from his owners’ home in rural Missouri. The owner, Mary Overton, was a former director of The Simian Society of America, a group that promotes and encourages private primate ownership. Timmy is shot and killed by a police officer as he attempts to pry open the door to the officer’s patrol car. Investigators charge all residents of the home with animal cruelty, as they find a “puppy mill” on the premises, with dead dog carcasses scattered throughout the property and over a hundred sick and undernourished animals, including several monkeys.
On March 4, 2009 Nightline on ABC airs over fifteen minutes of footage taken by a HSUS undercover worker at the University Of Louisiana Lafayette National Primate Research Center. The video shows acts of cruelty and inhumane treatment of chimpanzees, including scores of baby chimpanzees in a holding cell with no enrichment or even a blanket. The video brings new awareness to the plight of research chimpanzees, and turns up the pressure on the labs. A follow up investigation by the USDA, following the issuance of a 108 page complaint by the HSUS against the lab, reinforces the findings of the video taken.
Carole Noon, founder and director of Save the Chimps in New Mexico and Fort Pierce Florida passes away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 59. Noon, perhaps the world’s most famous chimpanzee advocate, founded Save the Chimps in 1997. She led the purchase of the former troubled Coulston Foundation research facility near Almagordo, New Mexico in order to rescue over 250 chimpanzees that had been used by the government for research, mostly from the space program in the 60’s and 70’s. The chimpanzees in her care, now numbering over 270, were being moved from New Mexico to the Florida facility, hailed as the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world. Noon left a legacy of care, compassion, and love for the species that will never be duplicated. The chimpanzee community misses her dearly.
In June, a news story from a Tampa Florida television station airs a story about a baby chimpanzee now residing at Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota, Florida, home of the Rosaire family of circus trainers. The chimpanzee, named Eli, was supposedly rejected at birth by his mother and is being raised by Kay Rosaire and Gini Valbuena. Valbuena, a long time buyer of baby chimpanzees that once described herself as being “addicted to chimpanzees”, is advertised in the news story as the chimps’ “full time nanny”.
The Rosaire’s had a coming out baby shower for the chimp in June, asking the public to donate toys and diapers, as well as pay the price of admission.
In early September, Gini and the baby chimp are spotted at a winery in Florida, drinking mimosas and schmoozing with the public.
Later in September, “chimpanzee encounters” with the baby chimpanzee and Gini Valbuena, are being advertised on a play for fee basis on the Big Cat Habitat home page. The addiction continues.
On December 10, 2009 Tom, a 44 year old chimpanzee that lived the last 14 years at the wonderful Fauna Foundation in Canada, passed away. Tom had been a research chimpanzee for the first thirty years of his life, languishing in a five foot by five foot by seven foot high stainless steel cage. He was the victim of countless laboratory tests, biopsies, injections, and suffering. Tom was the face of Project R&R, aimed at releasing all chimpanzees from biomedical and invasive research, and the driving force behind the Great Ape Protection Act now before Congress. There are still 1400 chimpanzees used in biomedical research in the United States today.
On December 17th, 2009, ten more chimpanzees arrived in Fort Pierce Florida as part of the Great Chimp Migration continues. Save the Chimps, the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in the world, transfers ten chimps at a time to the islands in the Florida facility as funds allow. An anonymous donor gave the $25,000 for this trip, and the Arcus Foundation has agreed to match all funds donated to Save the Chimps up until April of 2010. Start your year right – and donate to the Great Chimp Migration today!
Source
What a horrible person she is.
ReplyDeleteHi Judie;
ReplyDeleteI have followed your comments on each article regarding Jeanne since they have first come out. I see that all of the comments have been removed from these articles, and was curiously, as to why.
I often wondered why you were so involved in the posting of your comments, thank you for shedding some light on this subject.
I also posted quit a bit of comments of said articles, and was disappointed to see that they had been removed. I believe that the public needs to know the opinions of people here in this area, in regards to Jeanne.They need to know what she has done and about the animals she has.
I don't think that these animals belong in her home, they belong in a zoo. The people here, after the escape are a bit frightened and just want them out of here. We would like to see Jeanne go too, however, I don't think the zoo would take her, though that's where she belongs.
Thank you for your story, keep up the good work and don't feel bad about trying to help that little chimp, you didn't know any better.
Thank you Firefighter from Montana;
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why the paper decided to take down all of the comments, but I do agree with you, I think the public's opinion is an important one, especially like yourself, who lives in that area.
The only thing I can suggest to you and the others in the area is to contact your representatives by e-mail and phone calls and voice your concerns about public safety issues. As far as the other things are concerned, I just hope that at least some of these people will get their money back, hopefully the ones that need it the most.
I have always believed that when you do good, good will return back to you, when you do bad, it will also come back to you. Perhaps this is the hope.
Instead of Sandra Herold possibly going to jail for something that really wasn't her fault, Jeanne Rizzotto should be the one in jail. Where is the justice?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous;
ReplyDeleteI wonder about that myself. Maybe it's who you know. We all know about politics don't we?
Jeanne Rizzotto and her sordid reputation show the world everyting that is wrong with American society.
ReplyDeleteShe is greedy beyond belief, buys expensive items she can't afford ( Hummers, motorhomes, chimpanzees, etc) to show everyone how rich she thinks she is, lies about her business transactions, has horrible ethics ( hence her stealing the money from the Casey's), and now is playing the bankruptcy card to have herself protected from everyone she has harmed.
She is a train wreck of a human being, and should be locked up for a very long time.
Shame that will never happen.
Poor Connor and Kramer, the pawns in this whole mess.
Anonymous;
ReplyDeleteHow true your statement is about portraying to be rich. When Jeanne first introduced herself to me on the phone her statement to me was "google my name, I am very well off financially." In a letter she had written to the lawyer, she sent me a copy of it also, using this same statement to the Lawyer.
If Jeanne is that rich, then why is there a need to file bankruptcy, is my question. It doesn't sound as though she is poor with so many properties that she owns, paying at least $45,000.00 per chimp, a boat, hummer, a mobile home, a business, and other assets. I believe this is her way of getting out of paying all of the people that she has stolen money from with her false promises.
Yes poor Connor and Kramer, and all of the people that are out so much money and will probably never see a dime of it. My heart goes out to all of them.
I hope someone gets those chimps out of there before she does something bad to them. She did quote that the only way anyone would take them would be "over my dead body". Anyone, in my opinion that has that thought, let alone says it, has some serious psychological problems and should NOT be taking care of Chimpanzees.
What a wacko this woman is. I know her. I have seen her beasts out in public when they were young. They would scream and snatch at people, especially the bigger one. Get them the hell out of here.
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone assume that humans are the only animals who experience emotion & pain? These Chimpanzees, I'm sure are experiencing a lot of emotional pain not being with ones of their own kind.
ReplyDeleteHopefully being a little more informed will help you understand the constant wreckage Jeanne Rizzotto leaves in her path wherever she goes. If you go to this website location www(dot)zoominfo(dot)com/people/Rizzotto_Jeanne_66249955.aspx This link might shed a little better light on her character for you, and perhaps help you realize her comments on the devotion she has for her chimps, is nothing more then hot air. They get her attention, and that is ALL she is keeping them for. She doesn't really care about Kramer and Connor as she said she does, or she would have NEVER left them alone for three months when she was wreaking havoc in the four corners area of NM/AZ with the Navajo people. I would encourage you to watch her actions, and NOT listen to her words, for they are nothing more then hot air! Too many people's lives have been touched by her in a deviously devastating way, and she refuses to show ANY remorse to any of them. Her continuous actions are all I personally need to say with a clear conscience, she doesn't deserve ANY respect! We have all made poor choices at some point in time in our life, myself included, but one would hope that we would learn from our mistakes, enable our actions to show remorse and work even harder to correct them. Rizzotto consistently finds a way to blame everyone else for her wrong doings, and tries to turn the tables on them...She is cold hearted and calculating, self centered, and at best a snake in the grass. I believe in her own words (and that on the Navajo Nation) a "fast talking billagana". In her Today Show interview she stated that she slaps herself and says "Wow, I have chimpanzees". She should just plain slap herself!!
ReplyDeleteI am another sucker. She has bought my home and I have carried the contract. I tried to get information from the realtor before closing, but they where pretty hard up for their dime. So needless to say, my assets are tied up with her bk. I have MS and need the money from the sale of my home. In bk court under oath, she lied, saying she has all this equity in my home. Attorney is $300.00 per hour. How stupid can I be to get in this mess????
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous;
ReplyDeleteI am SO SORRY to hear what you are going through. Please, don't feel as though you are a sucker. She has a way of making people believe in her. I'm pretty wise to people and I fell for her story also and hurt some of my friends along the way.
Isn't there anyway you can hire a lawyer, the kind that don't get paid unless you get something out of it? Or maybe you can tell your story to the press and perhaps someone will come forth to help you pro-bono. A lot of good things come out of the press, especially when it comes to that awful woman!
I along with others are still trying to pick up the pieces that Jeanne has left behind and I know it must be very hard for you also. I do hope that you can find a way to make justice see your way. There has to be someone out there willing to help you legally. Perhaps a letter of what has happened to the local newspapers in her area and also to some of the law firms might be helpful. The billings Gazette seems to like to do stories about her, and then the other papers will pick it up, to perhaps get some help offered to you.
Whatever happens I wish you the best of luck and wish that all things come back on Jeanne Rizzotto.
Dear Anonymous;
ReplyDeleteI have done some research and reached out to a few folks I know and there is someone that you can speak to that is a lawyer. He is already working on the Jeanne Rizzotto case for someone else. If you leave another comment with an e-mail address where I can reach you I can give you that information. I don't want to publicize it. I also won't publicize your comment with the e-mail address.
I think perhaps this gentlemen can help you.