The Ohio State University Chimpanzee Center controversy is still a touchy subject for many involved. Lisa Wathne from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals held a press conference Wednesday, March 22, at The Lofts at Nationwide Arena to announce that PETA is filing a complaint with OSU’s General Counsel.

OSU’s chimps made national attention when they were transported on Feb. 27 from the OSU chimp center to a private sanctuary in Texas. Sally Boysen, director of the research facility, chained herself to the gates of the center in protest.

Questions loomed over the care the chimps would receive at Primarily Primates, with many caretakers of sanctuaries and similar enterprises expressing dismay at OSU’s decision to send them away. Whether their endeavors have been fruitful has yet to be determined.

At the news conference, Wathne discussed details of the complaint PETA filed, which is grounded on Texas law that prohibits transferring “dangerous wild animals” to someone that does not have a certificate of registration, which PPI lacks. Additionally, Bexas county, where PPI is located, has prohibited keeping “dangerous wild animals,” which would make getting a certificate of registration a nearly impossible since chimpanzees are considered dangerous wild animals by the state of Texas. Wathne also presented a video portraying poor conditions for chimpanzees at PPI.

“This is an area that has deep, deep problems, and as long as OSU is holding it together, they might be OK for the OSU chimps – but once OSU drops their oversight, … these chimps have no protection,” Wathne said. “If Primarily Primates is not providing enough vet care, enrichment, (and) shelter for the hundreds of other primates, there’s no reason to think they’re going to do so once the spotlight is off of them.”

If PPI had been adequately prepared, Wathne said, there would not have been a reason to sedate the chimps a second time. The normal procedure for a facility is to have a “transfer chute” which they gently slide into the new enclosures, or have a transfer cage sized appropriately to just pull the truck to the enclosure, open the door and let them walk in.

PETA specifically claims that Dr. William Yonushonis, clinical associate professor and the veterinarian in charge of lab animals at OSU, failed to fulfill his duties to the OSU chimps. Instances in the proceedings PETA cite include the lack of an OSU veterinarian accompanying the chimps on the trip to guarantee their safety and health and the enclosures at PPI not being big enough to accommodate the transport cages, resulting in a second sedation and, according to PETA, causing the death of Kermit, the chimp.

“Yonushonis has engaged in nothing short of animal abuse. There were reputable and true sanctuaries willing to give the OSU chimpanzees the care and respect they deserve, but Yonushonis dumped them in a derelict situation because it was cheap,” said Mary Beth Sweetland, director of PETA’s Research & Investigations Department, in a statement. “You get what you pay for, and now OSU has blood on its hands. Yonushonis has got to go.”

Earle Holland, OSU spokesman, said the university is looking into the complaint that PETA presented, but said that PETA has a history of making similar claims toward all kinds of people and places. He also questioned whether the video scenes were a true depiction from PPI and were not taken from a different location.

“They asked to meet with someone from legal affairs, and they presented us with a letter saying there was a violation of Texas law that had to do with the keeping of dangerous wild animals in that (county), that a permit had to be held by an individual and Primarily Primates did not have that permit,” Holland said. “Since it was a class C misdemeanor to do something like that, transferring animals down there where they’re not permitted can be an illegal act. We’re looking it over, but we’re confident in our decision to send them to Primarily Primates. They are in a better situation and we’re getting reports that the animals are thriving. We haven’t been contacted by authorities that raised the issues PETA raised.”