Chimp Receives A Unique Donation

Mon Mar 1, 2010

The Little Fork Fire & Rescue Company in Rixeyville, Virginia—65 miles southwest of Washington, DC—has given Chimp Haven a unique donation.  Upon learning about the chimpanzees at Chimp Haven,  the members of the all-volunteer emergency service decided they should donate to the sanctuary an ambulance that they were about to retire.  “When we learned about these chimpanzees and the sacrifices they have made, especially the chimpanzees used in research, it seemed like donating our ambulance was the right thing to do,” explains Doug Monaco, Deputy Chief.

When word got out in the Rixeyville community that the ambulance was coming to Chimp Haven, others decided to pitch in.  A dentist sent dental instruments; a hotel sent linens; and a fire company near Washington, DC sent a stretcher. A local high school vocational class removed the Little Fork decals and touched up the paint so that Chimp Haven could apply its own signage.  “The outpouring of support from a community far from Louisiana has been heartwarming,” says Chimp Haven President Dr. Linda Brent. 

Nowadays, instead of transporting human patients in rural Virginia, the ambulance carries chimpanzees from their habitats to the sanctuary clinic.  It also provides transportation to veterinary technicians Jennifer Best and Barbara Boniol as they make their daily rounds.  On February 14th, Chimp Haven polished the chimpanzee ambulance so it could be driven in the Shreveport’s Highland Mardi Gras parade.  Revelers, used to seeing emergency vehicles in parades, did a double take when the chimpanzee ambulance passed them.  It has since been pressed back into service for the chimpanzees.
 
“We are able to provide the chimpanzees, who have given so much to human medical science, with the quality of care they deserve,” says Brent, “because of the incredible generosity of citizens in our community and across the United States.  Little Fork Fire & Rescue’s unusual gift to the chimpanzees is an extraordinary act of kindness.  It demonstrates to the rest of the world that, even though our two communities are far apart, we all share the benefits and responsibilities for the chimpanzees who have given us so much.”

Chimp Haven can use additional donations of medical equipment to furnish an expanded veterinary facility that is under construction.  Among the items needed are a portable ultrasound, surgical/dental/necropsy instruments,  x-ray film and cassettes, a centrifuge, and automatic blood pressure monitor.