a Sad Chimp Who’s Been Isolated in a Roadside Zoo for Years

It’s an unfortunate fact that chimpanzees, highly intelligent apes that are similar to us in

so many ways, are still not treated with the respect they deserve. We subject them to horrific experiments in labs, force them to perform undignified acts in circuses for our entertainment, and confine them to zoos, which often leads to a psychological condition called zoochosis — all for our supposed benefit. In a recent

In a recent video released by PETA, Andy Serkis, the actor best known for playing Gollum/Smeagol in The Lord of the Rings movies, voices a chimp named Louie who is currently being kept confined in sad, barren cage. Louie was shipped to the DeYoung Family Zoo when he was only an infant so he could be used as a prop for photos. But, once Louie grew older and was too big to be considered “cute,” he was sentenced to a life of being put on display for visitors. Tommy, the other chimp currently being held captive at the DeYoung Family Zoo, was once held captive in a trailer park but since moving to the zoo, he hasn’t been outside.

In the video, we can clearly see that Louie suffers from a life of little to no enrichment. He haphazardly plays with toys that are nothing more than pipes given to him by a staff that cares more for how much money they can make off him than his wellbeing. He paces back and forth and sometimes, all he can do is stare outside the cage, most likely wishing that he were free. Recently, an Argentinian judge ordered the

Recently, an Argentinian judge ordered the release of a chimp who lived at the Mendoza Zoo in Argentina and acknowledged her rights as a nonhuman person. Hopefully, this is a good sign for the future of all captive chimps.

These intelligent chimpanzees deserve a better life than this. Sign this petition to urge the DeYoung Family Zoo to let Louie and Tommy spend the rest of their lives at a sanctuary.

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