New Mexico Chimpanzee Cruelty Case to Get Second Look

Supreme Court Grants AG's Request for Review

August 9 , 2007 -- (SANTA FE)---The New Mexico Supreme Court today agreed to review a decision by the state Court of Appeals in a high profile animal cruelty case in southern New Mexico. New Mexico Attorney General Gary King last month asked the Court to examine the lower court’s ruling in the deaths of two chimpanzees and injury to a third chimpanzee at the Alamogordo Primate Facility.

“We are pleased that we will be allowed to present our case to the state’s highest court,” says Attorney General King. “The state still believes the facility failed to provide adequate care for these animals.”

In June, the Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of criminal animal cruelty charges against the facility’s management contractor, Charles River Laboratories and its director, Dr. Donald Rick Lee.

Former New Mexico Governor David Cargo, former Attorney General Patricia Madrid, two former district attorneys and a number of others joined famed chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall in joining Attorney General King’s office in asking for the Supreme Court review of the case.

Source: New Mexico Attorney General