AAP holds the word Compassion in high regard. This means that AAP does not cherry-pick and does not take in animals selectively. However; before AAP takes in animals we first check if taking in an animal does not pave the way for the purchase of a new animal.
In that case AAP would actually be stimulating the demand and therefore be responsible for the trade in new animals. We do this selection in all cases where the animals are kept in a professional capacity. However, with laboratory animals we often run into a major dilemma. If we do not take the monkeys in, they often end up in terminal studies or the animals are disposed of as surplus. If we do take them in, new animals are often purchased that have to suffer the same terrible fate.
AAP has insufficient in-house expertise to determine the extent to which monkeys are necessary as experimental animals in certain experiments. Therefore AAP calls in the help of animal welfare organizations that have more expertise in this field and a large social consensus. Together we then look at whether helping to retire the test monkeys will contribute positively or negatively to reducing the number of laboratory animals. Finally, in those cases where we take in the monkeys, AAP asks for a contribution to the care costs. This is not because our donors would not be willing to help, but because in our view the cost of a retirement solution should be part of the research budget. The user pays!
Fortunately, as a result of these measures, more and more former laboratory animals are getting the future they deserve and there are no more animals getting into trouble: that is what we call sustainable help.
