Candy the Chimpanzee in her current condition is not up to any monkey business.
In fact, she can’t be.
Since Candy is a chimpanzee, she doesn’t have a tail like monkeys do. Also unlike monkeys, chimps like Candy have shoulder blades suited for swinging from tree to tree, according to the nationally-recognized, Louisiana-based Chimp Haven.
She’s also an unhappy, cigarette-smoking, Coca-Cola-drinking animal stuck in a cage at Dixie Landin’ in Baton Rouge.
Chimps are innovative creatures who walk on two feet in the wild and make tools for hunting and survival. They need mental and physical stimulation to keep them happy or else they’ll suffer from loneliness, depression and boredom.
A judge is set to issue a summary judgement on April 2017 on Candy’s condition. If the judge rules on the behalf of Animal Legal Defense Fund, then Candy could finally be set free from her torturous solitary confinement. However, waiting an entire year for a ruling could hurt Candy in the long run. Her health can’t wait as her dignity is waning along with her remaining years.
At Dixie Landin’, Candy the Chimp isn’t stimulated at all. Independent observers and chimp experts have repeatedly recommended a slew of changes to increase her happiness.
The first thing they recommended was removing her access to smokable cigarettes and to replace her Coca-Cola supply with water.
The cigarette-smoking aspect of this story is alarming by itself.
Patrons used to toss lit cigarettes into her cage, and she modeled human behavior and became an avid smoker.
Members of the Haynes family, who own Dixie Landin’, state they do not refuse to offer her water, but instead “provide Candy exclusively with Coca-Cola,” claiming that Candy does not like water. Visiting primatology experts, however, claim that “Candy has readily accepted and drunk water offered to her.”
A chief concern and the main point of contention between animal rights advocates and the Haynes family has been the relocation of Candy from her cage to a more suitable location.
Animal rights advocates want to move Candy to The Chimp Haven, which is southwest of Shreveport in Keithville. Jane Goodall, a well-known primatologist, has endorsed this move.
“We have several female chimpanzees in their late 50s, and they’re doing fine,” Cathy Willis Spraetz, president and CEO of the enclosure, said.
If Candy is moved, she could fulfill the National Research Council’s Committee on Long-term Care of Chimpanzees recommendation that “all chimpanzees in long-term situations should be housed minimally in pairs and preferably in social groups of three or more compatible individuals.”
The Haynes family doesn’t want to move her because they think using a tranquilizer will kill her. She frequently loses her bowels when she sees a needle, and they’re afraid injecting her with something will cause cardiac arrest.
They also cite her veterinarian’s statement that she needs to remain where she is currently located, but this of course comes with its own bias.
Regardless of competing claims, it seems clear that Candy is not thriving in her cage, rocking back and forth in one spot as she has no outside stimuli. This family lost the privilege to be considered compassionate caregivers when they didn’t put a forceful stop to her smoking cigarettes.
Moving her to the Chimp Haven is the right decision to make, both legally and morally, and hopefully the judge will rule this way.
Garrett Hines is a 21-year-old political science senior from Monroe, Louisiana.