Care for a break from the election content, Juicers? I was thinking about John’s post from a couple days back about the protesters outside Brock Turner’s home. As the author of a book on activism and someone who gives workshops on effective activism, I know that “afflicting the comfortable” (journalist Finley Peter Dunne) and “going where you are least wanted” (abolitionist Abigail Kelley Foster) are time-honored activist strategies. However, that doesn’t mean you just show up at someone’s home and act like a nut. (Or worse: a gun nut.) It’s kind of a nuclear option—to be used, as Suzanne pointed out in her comment (#6), when there’s “no other resort.”
I submit the following as an example of an effective escalation onto someone’s home turf:
Over the course of three decades starting in the mid-1970s, The New York Blood Center conducted experiments on hundreds of chimpanzees at VILAB, a lab it leased in Liberia. About ten years ago, they decided they no longer needed the chimps, and moved them onto six islands in a river, collectively known as “Monkey Island,” promising to provide lifetime care. The graphic at right shows the exact language of the promise, and it’s also worth noting that there’s a growing consensus that primates used in research deserve a retirement.
In early 2015, however, NYBC reneged on that pledge, flat-out abandoning the 66 remaining chimps without even food or water. (The islands are surrounded by brackish, nonpotable water.) They also abandoned the chimps’ caregivers, some of whom, despite their limited resources, continued on as volunteers to help the animals they had bonded with and felt a responsibility to. (See below pic–and The Humane Society of the U.S. has since started collecting donations from the public to help fund the caregiving.)
Yeah, care for 66 chimps isn’t cheap—around $360,000 per year—but it’s estimated that the NYBC has earned around half a billion dollars in royalties from treatments developed as a result of the chimp research.
Animal rights groups have been campaigning to have the NYBC to step up and meet its responsibilities.
They met with executives.
Picketed the building.
Worked the press.
All to no avail.
Guess what came next?
In June, 2015, activists started protesting at the homes of NYBC board members, beginning with the Park Avenue home of the chairman, billionaire real estate developer Howard Milstein. When that proved fruitless, they moved on to the Upper West Side home of board member Michael Hodin, protesting outside it numerous times during rush hour.
That didn’t work, either.
This past June, they started protesting at Hodin’s home at night—and now they got a reaction:
So give us your thoughts, Juicers. Is this an appropriate, effective escalation of an authentic call for justice in accordance with Gandhi’s dictum, “The role of a civil protester is to provoke a response, and to keep protesting until there is a response?” Or do you think the activists crossed a line? (You know where I stand.) And what, if anything, do you think the NYBC owes the chimps?
Oh, and by the way, the campaign scored a major victory just last week when MetLife ended its relationship with the NYBC. From MetLife’s press release: “MetLife has been actively urging NYBC to work with the Humane Society to reach a sustainable, long-term solution for the care of the chimpanzees in Liberia….MetLife has informed NYBC that we will not consider future financial support until a solution is found.”
Although activists had been pressuring MetLife to break with NYBC for months, the announcement came a little over a month after activists marched to the Summit, NJ, home of MetLife CEO Steven Kandarian.
PS – Here’s the campaign’s FB group for news and updates. Also, the Humane Society and Vice provide some good backstory.
SiubhanDuinne
I haven’t yet clicked on every link you provide above, so it’s possible my question is answered at one of them, but may I assume that Jane Goodall and her associates are aware of this and perhaps lending support on behalf of the chimps?
Patricia Kayden
Can NYBC be sued to enforce its promise? The legal options seems like the best way to go, in my opinion.
Mnemosyne
So New York’s anti-cruelty laws don’t cover this? It seems like exotic animal abandonment just from this brief description.
Hillary Rettig
@SiubhanDuinne: Jane Goodall absolutely has spoken out on behalf. Will try to get the link. btw your comment reinforces for me that Jane Goodall is the animal rights movements’ top ambassador. :-) think how intransigent Milstein must be not to listen to her!
SiubhanDuinne
@Hillary Rettig:
Thanks, Hillary. I was pretty sure she would have. Yes, she is a great strong voice for animal rights and the Jane Goodall Institute is training new generations of spokespersons and activists.
Jeffro
OT while waiting on next open thread: Trump sez he would have captured Bin Laden before 9/11. Holy cow…this guy is like a superhero + Dr. Who + Obama’s worst nightmare across that 11-dimensional chess board. Of course he would have! Americans, wake up, your dream president is waiting!
I think I mentioned earlier about how dumb Trump was, and that’s still true. But more specifically, he’s like a first-grader who didn’t do his homework PLUS your crazy, senile grandfather that you visit every Thanksgiving.
John Revolta
He seems nice.
@Patricia Kayden: NYBC no doubt can tie this up in the courts for years, while the chimps sit and starve.
Hillary Rettig
@Patricia Kayden: I’m not sure at what point a “promise” becomes a binding contract, but it’s an interesting question. I think one of the activists may show up in this thread, and he might be able to answer that. I assume that if legal action were possible they would have pursued that. (Although NYBC is a big, rich entity – so who knows if it could have worked.)
Hillary Rettig
@SiubhanDuinne: Predictably, Dr. Goodall is not pleased:
“I am extremely disappointed to learn that the New York Blood Center has ignored requests by dozens of animal protection groups and thousands of individuals to renew their support for the 66 chimpanzees they have abandoned at the Vilab II sanctuary in Liberia. Instead, in a recent statement, they deny all responsibility for the care of these former research chimpanzees, stating that they are owned by the Liberian government. This seems irrelevant since NYBC was responsible for funding the acquisition of these chimpanzees, some of whom were taken from the wild after shooting their mothers. NYBC then profited from their use in their vaccine research, yet instead of accepting their responsibility for them, NYBC claims that their support of the chimpanzees has always been voluntary and that they have no obligation to them. Rather than enter into a dialogue with the wide and committed chimpanzee welfare and conservation community to find a long term solution for their care, NYBC simply decided to cut off all funding.
Chimpanzees are an incredibly intelligent, social species and they are endangered across their entire range in Africa. How ironic that while worldwide support for ending the exploitation of chimpanzees in research and other forms of human gain, and efforts to protect their populations in the wild are increasing, New York Blood Center has simply cast these poor individuals aside.”
etc.
Hillary Rettig
@Mnemosyne: Interesting point. the chimps are in Liberia so I don’t know how they’d enforce the NYC laws even if they applied. Plus I think exotic animal law enforcement is pretty understaffed — aren’t there like a handful of these guys for the whole city? (You read about them once in a while removing a giant boa or croc – or both! – from someone’s apartment.)
Finally I imagine there are exemptions for animals used in medical research.
^All speculation.
Patricia Kayden
@John Revolta: I understand your point about the lengthy nature of such cases but am just wondering if courts can legally force NYBC to do the right thing since it’s obvious that their promise is null and void in their opinion. I can’t see how you can force an entity to do the right thing without legal muscle.
Hillary Rettig
@John Revolta: I take it you mean the irate building president.
The NYBC Board Chairman, Howard Milstein, is also a piece of work. Very Trumplike – inherited a real estate fortune and a prolific builder of golf courses. A real billionaire, tho – not a fake one. Also more authentically philanthropic than Trump, which makes me wonder why he won’t help the poor chimps.
Also embroiled in a subprime lending scandal.
Starfish
Speaking of protests, can we talk about the pipeline protest where some people plowed over burial ground over the weekend after a tribe attempted to block the pipeline?
Hillary Rettig
@Patricia Kayden: also the new Board Chair is claiming disingenuously that the promise was a *personal* promise made by the prior head of the lab, rather than an actual promise made by the institution itself.
Mnemosyne
@Hillary Rettig:
Ah, okay. It wasn’t clear that the chimps were in a different country. That definitely complicates things, especially since there’s been a lot of political unrest in Liberia.
Percysowner
@Mnemosyne:
NYBC covered their bases, the monkeys are on islands in Liberia, so New York has no jurisdiction. It probably also avoids jurisdiction on any lawsuits, although it would be hard for someone to sue. You have to have a standing to file a lawsuit and no matter how people feel about this, I suspect they don’t have legal standing. All that is left is moral persuasion.
I have no problem with these protests. They aren’t carrying guns. They aren’t saying the guy should be shot or raped or even thrown on an island with no food or water. They are engaging in exactly the right form of protest, unless the other videos show something violent. If this is what the protestors had been doing to Brock Turner, I would be cheering them on instead of condemning them.
Mary G
That is immoral and infuriating. The activists didn’t cross a line and I have trouble even identifying where the line would be. This is exhibit A of ugly Americans.
Mnemosyne
@Hillary Rettig:
It’s more that it’s now become an issue of international law and diplomacy. Even if Liberia wanted the NYBC to pay, it might be tough to make them do it. The federal government would probably need to be involved at this point.
Hillary Rettig
@Percysowner: @Mary G: Great to see the support for the activists!
Hillary Rettig
@Mnemosyne: Which is why the need for public shaming.
Patricia Kayden
@Starfish: That needs to be a Frontpagers’ story. We all should be outraged that protesters have been brutalized with dogs.
John Revolta
@Hillary Rettig: @Patricia Kayden: Yeah, that guy.
Sure, I mean let’s go after them in the courts but it’s a slow and iffy proposition. The Court of Public Opinion often gets quicker results, esp. if it hits the assholes where it hurt$.
Feathers
Protests in front of homes? Has to be a really disciplined, well-trained group to pull that off. That said, really not a problem in Manhattan. Protests happen all the time, both the neighbors and the local constabulary are well prepared and equipped to handle the situation. My preference there would be large protests near the home, but not at, covering all the intersections that the target would need to use to get from their house to the outside world. Not as personally threatening and invasive, and more neighbors would witness the shaming. Making sure to catch the eye of traffic to the local elementary school would be a bonus for causes like the chimps.
And also – how much feckin’ moolah does it take to care for chimps in Liberia!?!?! Especially when it is handled by the locals, not Westerners staying the outrageously pricey hotels. There must be something deeply personal within the organization happening. It feels like the setup for an Agatha Christie novel. Or Carl Hiaasen,
Pogonip
No, this is not an appropriate protest. An appropriate protest would involve a public flogging of the offending party. Since we’re not there yet, I think the actual protest is one small step towards restoring civilization, and I hope it continues.
Betsy
@Patricia Kayden: @Hillary Rettig: At law, a promise is a gratuitous statement of intent and not a binding contract unless someone was deliberately induced by the promise to change position in reliance on it, or unless someone gave something of any value, evn so much as a peppercorn, in exchange for the promise. ETA: This is known as “consideration.” Without consideration, no contract. So, generally, the answer is no.
Feathers
@Betsy: I think agreeing to move the chimps from whatever lab or building they were in, so that it could be put to other commercial use would be a consideration, no?
Sarah in Brooklyn
I’ve been following this story for years. Recently the US Humane Society offered to help NYBC with the cost of the chimps’ care but NYBC’s offer was paltry. I’ve stopped donating blood there – and I’m O negative. But that’s nothing compared with getting in their faces. I haven’t been to the protests because of time conflicts but I support them 1000% and have written letters and donated money. Check out their FB page. Many of these animals were captured in the wild as babies and endured decades of experimenting before they were abandoned. Protest seems perfectly reasonable. I’m delighted that Met Life has seen the light, too.
Betsy
@Feathers: who agreed to move the chimps, and did they do so in exchange for the promise? To be in exchange for the promise, there had to have been a “meetiing of the minds” — that is, both NYBC and the other party both understood that the moving of the chimps was done in exchange for NYCB’s promise to care for them.
If the answer to all of these requirements is affirmative, there remains the question of the enforecability of the terms of he promise: does it say anything clear enough to be enforceable, such as dollar amounts, degree of care, and a duration that is knowable, or would a court have to make up imaginary terms of the promise in order to render it enforceable? Courts don’t like to do that. Most of the time, the contracting parties are the ones in the best position to make sure the terms of a contractual agreement are clear when it’s made. Courts won’t make up a better, more enforceable contract than the one that actually was made, or the world of contracts and negotiations would be turned on its head.
Betsy
@Feathers: reading the case and your question again, it sems the MYBC moved the chimps (?) .. Or are you saying that someone agreed to move the chimps in exchange for and reliance on NYBC’s promise to care for them? If the former, no, the two parties to a contract can’t be the same organization. For the latter, I can’t tell from your question or the facts provided in the post who moved the chimps and why.
Donny Moss
@Patricia Kayden: Litigation has been considered, but the blood center has used the fact that it has “no contractual obligation” to the chimps as part of their justification for abandoning them. I suspect that the fact that the crisis is taking place in Liberia makes litigation even more complicated.
Donny Moss
@Hillary Rettig: Milstein’s colleagues in the upper echelons of the real estate world have told me that he uses philanthropy to buy his way into high society. Without his philanthropy, he would be rejected because, according to almost everyone I have spoken to, he is a bad guy right down to the core (to put it mildly).
Donny Moss
@Betsy: As they no longer needed individual chimps for the research, NYBC moved them onto the islands with no natural food or water. They couldn’t release them into the wild because they were infected with diseases and would not know how to take care of themselves because they spent their lives in cages instead of their natural homes. Even though NYBC alone created the population of captive chimps, the organization now claims that they do not own them and are therefore not responsible for their care.
J. C.
You’re comparing Apples and Oranges. Brock Turner is over. He can’t be tried again. There is nothing protesting can do to change anything.
The NYBC can still be forced to care for the chimps by shaming them. No idea where you get your logic from.
Sean
The message from @NYBCrightthing is legitimate and, yes, protests are effective–until you’re terrorizing local animals & assaulting residents. We live across the street and we have a puppy that was terrified last night on a walk–the protesters didn’t care as they were screaming crazily and banging drums in my wife’s face as she’s holding on to our 3 pound, 3 month old puppy. So, while they’re protesting the terrible treatment of animals, they’re blind to the fact that they themselves are terribly treating animals. At 9:30 or 10:00 pm you’ll find dozens of people walking their dogs–they don’t care–these ‘animal lovers’ don’t care. I’d be glad to help, but not if it somehow perpetuates this disorganized group of radical hooligans that seem to have some other chip on their shoulder. I get that it’s a fine line, but last night, they lost their humanity, their compassion….they should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves.