Rachelle Hansen joins Anitha to talk about Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, located in Ontario, Canada. Rachelle shares stories of the residents who currently live and have lived at the sanctuary. She talks about the friendships they have made, things they enjoy doing and how the folks at the sanctuary do their best to make the lives of the residents as happy and comfortable as possible, given they can never be returned to their natural homes in the wild.
Of course, Rachelle talks about Pockets Warhol, the famous white-capped capuchin monkey who loves to paint. His art work is highly sought after.
Rachelle also talks about the residents’ lives before coming to the sanctuary—many were victims of the pet trade, bio-medical experiments and zoos.
During their conversation, Rachelle shares the horrific plight of more than 6,000 endangered Cambodian macaques arriving in Canada for the past 19 months to be used in laboratory testing. These wild-caught primates, typically between one and two years of age, are illegally trafficked from Cambodia to Montreal, Canada in tiny crates, often without food or water. If they survive the trip, they then endure immense pain, suffering and terror as they are subjected to experiments, even though it is well documented that these drug experiments consistently fail to improve human health. This is such a tragedy, BUT there is something everyone can do to help. Rachelle, shared the following link, where folks can sign a petition and email the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Julie Dabrusin to urge her to stop the importation of long-tailed macaques into Canada.
Horrible things are happening in the world, but here is one instance where you can help. Please click on the link and sign the petition.
To learn more about Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary and to book a visit, check out their website and Instagram account.
As a thank you to Rachelle for sharing her story, Anitha donated to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Located in Sierra Leone, Tacugama is dedicated to enforcing wildlife laws, and rescuing and rehabilitating critically endangered orphaned Western chimpanzees. To learn more about Tacugama, check out their website. You can also listen to episode 55 of the Kindness Is Everything podcast, where Dr. Izzy Hirji, a veterinarian, talks about volunteering with both Tacugama and Story Book Farm.
Episode 55: Kindness Is Dr. Izzy Goes Wild
To hear the full episode, click here:
Anitha Rao-Robinson 