| Chimpanzee Exploited by Lifetime Television |
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June 3, 2010 A recently filmed episode of the Lifetime Television show Drop Dead Diva will feature a chimpanzee named Suzy. Despite a whistleblower’s account of abuse on-set and chimpanzee experts reaching out to the show’s team, producers of the show are still planning to air this episode. Please send a polite letter to Lifetime asking them not to air this segment of Drop Dead Diva. Your letters can make a difference – last year the producers of Dancing with the Stars made the right decision and dropped a chimpanzee clip from the show after hearing from concerned advocates. Let them know that chimpanzees cannot be trained for entertainment by positive reinforcement alone, and brutal training practices in the entertainment industry are well documented. In fact, the account coming from the set of Drop Dead Diva reported that Suzy’s trainer yanked her ears, pulled her hair, continually tugged at the leash that was attached to her leg, and yelled at her to the extent that she cowered because of the loud and threatening tone that he used. JoAnn Alfano
Sample Letter/Email [Date] Dear Ms. Alfano: I was shocked and disappointed to hear that Lifetime exploited a chimpanzee in the show Drop Dead Diva and that according to an account from the set, the chimpanzee was reportedly abused during the show’s production. You should know that great apes used in entertainment are torn away from their mothers as infants, often repeatedly beaten during training, and then discarded when they become too strong to be managed. Please make the compassionate decision to not air the chimpanzee segment in the show, and please commit to never exploit great apes for entertainment purposes again. I certainly will not watch your show (or Lifetime) if you air this episode, and will tell all of my friends to do the same. Thank you for your consideration of my comments on this urgent matter and I look forward to your timely response. Sincerely, *If you send an email, please BCC Primate Patrol at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for tracking purposes.
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