Three Hollywood chimpanzees, said to have been punched and beaten to make them perform, will spend the rest of their lives in an animal sanctuary in an cruelty lawsuit settlement, an animal rights group said Thursday.
LOS ANGELES -- Three Hollywood chimpanzees, said to have been punched and beaten to make them perform, will spend the rest of their lives in an animal sanctuary in an cruelty lawsuit settlement, an animal rights group said Thursday.
Sable, Cody and Angel, who have appeared in numerous TV shows, commercials and movies including "That '70s Show" and "The Craig Kilborn Show," were named in a federal lawsuit alleging cruelty by their California trainer Sid Yost, whose stage name is Ranger Rick.
The lawsuit, filed in November 2005 by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, accused Yost of violating the endangered species act and the California anti-cruelty statute by subjecting the chimps to extreme pain and suffering.
Yost denied the cruelty allegations. His lawyer declined comment on the settlement.
The group brought the case after an undercover primatologist worked with Yost for a year at his southern California facility for chimps. She reported seeing him punching the chimps with his fists, repeatedly beating them with sticks and broom handles, and kicking them in the head to make them obedient.
The ALDF argued that only fear of physical abuse, rather than treats, made the chimps routinely perform tricks and stunts. After the group made its information public, Hollywood stars Pamela Anderson, Alec Baldwin and Bob Barker pledged never again to appear on screen with a chimpanzee.
Yost was fined in 2002 after one of his chimps bit a boy at a California show. He pleaded no contest in 2002 and 2003 to illegal possession of a lion cub and a bear.
Under the settlement terms, Sable, Cody and Angel will leave Yost's San Bernardino, California, facility on Saturday for sanctuaries in New Mexico and Florida.
Source: Reuters
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