Sacramento, CA — The Animal Protection Institute (API), a Sacramento-based national nonprofit animal welfare group, takes the monkeying around out of Father’s Day shopping by offering the unique gift of a primate “adoption.”
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Though API operates locally, it also manages the API Primate Sanctuary just outside San Antonio, TX. The API Primate Sanctuary is home to more than 400 primates — including snow monkeys, baboons, and vervets — many of whom were rescued from abusive situations in laboratories, roadside zoos and even as pets in private homes.
“Adoption of a primate gives sanctuary residents the gift of a brighter tomorrow,” says Michelle Thew, Chief Executive Officer of API. “What better way to make Dad feel special on Father’s Day than by saving a life in his honor? Without our primate sanctuary, many of these animals would have nowhere else to go, so these animals are truly getting a second chance at life.”
Many individuals are available for adoption, including:
- Tucson is a snow monkey, typically found in Japan, rescued from a mall where he was kept as an “attraction.” To make him less dangerous, many of his teeth were removed, giving him a somewhat crooked smile through which his tongue often peeps. Tucson is a gentle, curious individual and is very enthusiastic about mealtimes. He particularly likes granola bars.
- Boon & Holly are both olive baboons, typically found on the savannahs of Africa. Boon was kept as a “pet” for approximately 12 years, some of the time in a dark, cramped garage, isolated and without companionship. Boon came to the sanctuary in poor physical and mental condition, clutching a chewed-up child’s toy and self-mutilating. In his time at the Sanctuary, Boon has blossomed and formed a particularly strong bond with Holly, an elderly female who had suffered through drug addiction experiments. Both Boon and Holly love nuts and sunflower seeds.
Adoption of a primate helps API provide food, care, and rehabilitation to individual monkeys like Tucson, Boon and Holly, and gives Dad a “Welcome Kit” complete with full-color photo of the primate chosen for adoption, certificate of adoption, and the semi-annual API Primate Sanctuary newsletter, The Primate Post.
Find out more about the API Primate Sanctuary, including the primates profiled above, at www.api4primates.org.
The Animal Protection Institute is a national non-profit animal advocacy organization working to end animal cruelty and exploitation through legislation, litigation and public education. For more information, visit www.api4animals.org.
Hi-res images of Tucson, Boon, Holly and other API Sanctuary primates, are available by emailing press@bornfreeusa.org.
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Contact:
Zibby Wilder, Animal Protection Institute, 916-447-3085 x205