Dear John,

As we announced yesterday, we believe our chimpanzee client Tommy–if alive–is imprisoned at the DeYoung Family Zoo in Wallace, Michigan. The DeYoung Family Zoo no longer has the chimpanzees in its custody on public display, so little is known about Tommy’s captivity or his physical and psychological health. We’re calling on the DeYoung Family Zoo to free Tommy to an accredited chimpanzee sanctuary.

Read this blog post for the full update on Tommy.

You can help Tommy in three ways: 

• Complete this action alert asking the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (the state agency that oversees the keeping of chimpanzees) to conduct an emergency inspection of the zoo to check on Tommy’s welfare.
• If you’re on Facebook, please send a polite message to the zoo and comment on their most recent post politely requesting that they free Tommy to an accredited chimpanzee sanctuary.
• Share this blog and the action alert on social media with the hashtag #FreeTommy.

If you have any questions, NhRP Staff Attorney Jake Davis and I will be discussing Tommy’s plight, including how it’s possible for a chimpanzee to be treated this way under existing law, on a Zoom seminar on March 15th. 

Thank you as always for your time and support,

Courtney Fern
Director of Government Relations, the NhRP