Dear John,
What’s happening to seven chimpanzees held captive at the DeYoung Family Zoo isn’t just a moral failure. It’s a legal one.
Seven self-aware, autonomous beings remain trapped at a roadside zoo in Northern Michigan—kept in a grossly unnatural environment, deprived of anything resembling a physically or psychologically healthy life for a chimpanzee.
Our team is fighting to secure their fundamental right to liberty—with the support of chimpanzee cognition and behavior experts like Dr. Jane Goodall, who submitted a powerful affidavit in this case. This year we're preparing for a hearing before the Michigan Court of Appeals to argue for our clients’ freedom and release to a sanctuary.
While our fight to remedy this injustice may take place inside of a courtroom, there’s a lot you can do to help aid our efforts outside of it.
This is why we’ve released our new Free the DeYoung Prisoners merchandise collection—to give advocates like you a chance to wear your heart loud and proud and help us raise awareness about our case. The shirts in this collection provide a bold and clear statement that people in Michigan, and beyond, can use to show that they, too, support the DeYoung chimpanzees’ right to liberty.
