PETITIONING MERCK TO HELP END CHIMPANZEE RESEARCH

HELP END CHIMPANZEE RESEARCH

I have a petition out asking Merck to help end chimpanzee research. I am hoping they will make a public commitment to not use chimpanzees for any future research. There are hundreds of chimpanzees stuck in private labs for experiments paid for by drug companies like Merck. The chimps are living in small cages and the tests are painful and unnecessary. Merck is a large company that says they care about animal welfare and this would be a good opportunity for them to let the public know that they do not need to run painful tests on chimpanzees anymore. If the government has stopped then so can Merck.  Please join the 70,000 others that have signed my petition and asked Merck to please stop housing these chimps and release them to sanctuaries.

Click on the link https://www.change.org/petitions/merck-help-end-chimpanzee-research and please share with your friends.

www.humanesociety.org - HSUS

I TOLD YOU I WOULD BE BACK!

Since many of you have written that you do not use facebook I will try and go back to the occasional blog post. I can’t believe it’s been two years since I last posted. My brother Denver gave my blog a new look today and I think it looks much better. What do you think?

So much has happened I don’t know where to start!

FUNDRAISING WITH MY FELTED SOAPS

I have been having a lot of fun making Felted Palm Oil Free Soapbars and donating proceeds to different Great Ape Organizations. I get the wool from a sheep sanctuary in Wisconsin. The sheep there are all rescues. They are only clipped and they are never sold, bred, or eaten. So when you buy one of my “Felted Soapbars” you are helping the sheep and the Great Apes!

Naked “Palm Oil Free” Soaps by Utopia Soapbar

Felted Soapbars by ME

PALM OIL AWARENESS

I have been trying to raise awareness about the threat to orangutans due to the of palm oil plantations. Orangutans are dying and their habitat is almost gone. These palm oil plantations have affected our whole Eco system. REMEMBER when you are shopping to always check the labels for palm oil. Palm oil is in everything food, candy, and many household products. To learn more about deforestation, palm oil, other names for palm oil, and its effects check out this website Deforestation Education.

SURPRISE!

To my friends from VegFest that knew how much I wanted to bring home a Bully, it finally happened. I have a pitbull named Molly and she is the coolest!

MOLLY

GREAT APES NEED OUR HELP!!!

The Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act
& Fundraiser for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hi!
Sorry I haven't written on my blog in a while. I've been real busy with school and have also been working hard mailing out letters to our representatives asking them to support the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act. My final count of letters collected and mailed was 2551. I couldn't have done it without my mom and brothers Denver and Christian helping me. It was real hard sorting them by zip codes and looking up their representatives. I mailed letters for Florida, Virginia and  Connecticut.

Looking up addresses of Representatives

I also wrote my own letters to different congress people and senators and mailed them one of my great ape tags. It would be really cool if someone would send me a picture of them wearing one of my tags. Last month I wrote the president and sent him a great ape tag too. I hope he writes me back because that would be really cool!!!

Here are my great ape tags that I mailed out.
I also gave them out to the students at
Holy Family Catholic school when they
asked me to come speak on Earth Day.
That was really fun!!!

I was really happy when we finished!!!

If you haven't contacted your representative yet
PLEASE DO!!!!
Special thanks goes out to all the people who have been working hard to help the chimps like the Humane Society of the United States and Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine. PCRM just had a letter writing party in Seattle which is really cool. I hope the chimps got lots of new supporters. If you live in Washington they have a page about writing the Senator.

Thank you to everyone who helped me 

and took the time to sign and write letters!!!

FUNDRAISER TO HELP SOME OF MY FAVORITE CHIMPS AT CHIMPANZEE SANCTUARY NW

I'm really excited about doing a fundraiser for Chimpanzee Sanctuary NW. There are seven chimps at the sanctuary they are Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy and Negra. In 2008 the chimps were rescued from a lab in Pennsylvania to the sanctuary. They spent most of their lives locked up in a basement of a laboratory and were used in bio-medical research. In September they finished an outdoor enclosure for the chimps called Young's Hill. Check out the video!!!

If you follow me on Facebook you already know how much I really like the blog and videos. The chimps all have their own personalities and it is fun to see how they act and play with each other.

The sanctuary is planning on building an on-site medical clinic for the chimps. So if the chimps need medical care they won't have to leave home. I really wanted to help with a fundraiser for them and I hope all of you will want to be a part of it too!!!

Check out the things I have in my Etsy Shop. All the proceeds will be going to Chimpanzee Sanctuary NW.
Right now I have Great Ape Tags and Eco-Friendly Tote Bags for sale.

 Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act/Great Ape Tags
These are really cool!!!

Eco-Friendly Tote Bag

I am hoping together we can make the lives better for the chimps and all great apes.
Please click on the link to shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/MakeaChimpSmile and share this blog post with your friends on facebook and twitter so they can learn about the chimps that need our help. To learn more about Chimpanzee Sanctuary North West and meet the chimps visit their website and blog http://www.chimpsanctuarynw.org.

THANKS FOR VISITING MY BLOG 

&

MAKING CHIMPS SMILE!!!

Your Chimp Friend

Brandon

SEE WHO MADE A CHIMP SMILE!!!

THANK YOU ALL
FOR YOUR DONATIONS!

SO FAR WE HAVE RAISED $3662.62

SEE WHO MADE A CHIMP SMILE!!!

Rickey Wood                                         Raebca

Jeffery Smith                                          Tau

Eric McMillan                                        Ein5tein

Albert Bangi                                          Alison Chapot *

Jack Curley                                           Alpha Team/Therisa

Steven Day                                            Alpha Team/Ralph

Patti Greene                                          Jackie Londa

Christine Lane                                       Dennis & Kathy Fawcett

Teena M. Gregory                                  Debra Simicich

Anonymous ???                                       Anonymous???
Deanna Wood                                         Tamela Burgess*
Theresa Strunk *                                    Denver Wood
Diana                                                       Candy MacDonald  
Jennifer D                                               Grandma & Granddaddy*
Dena Daugherty*                                      David Rieck
Ruth Clark                                               Mary Izzo
Denise Wilson                                          Tina Gonzalez
Annoula Wylderich                                  Gregory Welch
Linda Robinson                                        Aunt Vee & Uncle Sam
Dana Moss                                               Marie Guadagno
Idan Oz                                                    Samantha & Ivana*
Doreen Ingram*                                       Kaite McGrew
Jennifer Ball *                                        Marcia Leach
Tanis                                                       Laurie Harrison
Julie Harding                                          Jan Meltzer
Monica Best                                           Amy Atherton
Catherine Mollyneaux*                           Jason Shanaman
Kelly Denton                                           Eva Devin
Wesley Creigh                                         Bob42jh
                    

YOU CAN MAKE A CHIMP SMILE TOO!

SPECIAL THANKS GO OUT TO

ALL OF YOU IN AFGHANISTAN & IRAQ !!!

THANKS FOR ALL BEING PART OF MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE!!!!!

Please email me your address so I can send you a Thank You

ANDREW WESTOLL-The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary

Hey Everybody!!!
I wanted to introduce you to Andrew Westoll. I know lots of you that support great apes already know who Andrew is but for those of you who don’t I will tell you. I met Andrew through twitter when I first got started speaking out for chimps. He was one of the first people that I followed and on the list of people I hope to meet one day.

Andrew is a primatologist and a writer. He has done some really cool stuff, like spending a year in the Central Suriname Nature Reserve following capuchin monkeys.  Who wouldn’t love following monkeys through a rainforest? He also was able to live by, watch and get to know 13 chimpanzees that had lived for decades in a biomedical lab. These chimps are at Fauna Sanctuary which is outside of Montreal, Quebec. 

I am really excited about Andrew’s new book “The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary”.  I have been waiting for it to come out. My mom ordered it for me so it should be here soon.  Andrew has written about all the chimps he has gotten to know at Fauna.  I know this is going to be a great book and when you order it a portion of the proceeds goes to help the chimpanzees at Fauna. 

 

“Andrew Westoll is a born story teller: The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, written with empathy and skill, tenderness and humour, involves us in a world few understand. And leaves us marvelling at the ways in which chimpanzees are so like us, deserve our help and are entitled to our respect.” - Dr. Jane Goodall

If you are interested in ordering this book just click on the book on the top right of this page and while you wait for your book to come read Andrew’s blog “The New Animalist”.  Here you will learn more about the writer and the primatologist, Andrew Westroll.  Also you can follow Andrew on  facebook & twitter.

Below is a blog post from "The New Animalist" By Andrew Westoll.

My Time with the Chimps: 

An Introduction

POSTED ON DECEMBER 21, 2010 BY ANDREW WESTOLL

In the summer of 2009, I spent ten weeks living and working at the Fauna Foundation, a sanctuary for abused and neglected animals just outside Montreal, Canada. Fauna is home to over one hundred animals of all shapes and sizes, but its most famous residents are a very special family of chimpanzees.

Fourteen years ago, these chimps were rescued from a biomedical laboratory. In the lab, they’d spent decades suffering through countless invasive surgeries like punch- and open-liver biopsies, dart-gun knockdowns and day after day of barren captivity. They’d been used as test subjects in vaccine trials, and injected with lethal human diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. Their lives had been utterly miserable and devoid of just about everything an ape requires to live a happy, dignified life. Some of them were driven psychotic by the experience.

But at Fauna, the chimps have begun to heal.  And what’s even more amazing it that they’ve begun to trust humans again. This is what my next book, The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary, is all about. It’s a biography of the chimps and the woman who saved them, Gloria Grow, who continues to look after them to this day.

When I moved in to Fauna in 2009, thirteen troubled chimpanzees were living there. To honour that magic number, I’m going to post thirteen memories of my time with the chimps right here on The New Animalist, and on the Walrus Blog, as well. Posts will appear about once a week, as a countdown of sorts to publication. Come May, when the book will be in stores across North America, you should all feel a little closer to Fauna and the remarkable apes who live there.

Each post will be named after an individual chimp. So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to the mighty Jethro….

THANKS FOR COMING BY AND VISITING MY BLOG & PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS SO THAT THEY CAN ORDER ANDREW'S NEW BOOK TOO!!!

Your Chimp Friend Brandon

CATHERINE MOLLYNEAUX IS STILL MAKING CHIMPS SMILE!!!

Catherine Mollyneaux is hosting another fundraiser for

Make a Chimp Smile!!!

Catherine has designed and made some really nice "Wildlife" hand embroidered greeting cards and bookmarks. These card sets are special and each one is different. All proceeds for these sets of cards and the bookmarks will be donated to the Save the Chimps Sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida to help migrate a chimp to one of the 12 islands.

The card sets can be purchased through Catherine's Etsy Store. There are four different Wildlife sets. Each card is finished with beautiful parchment on the inside which is blank so you can write your own special message. Each card is wrapped individually in Acid Free Clear Sleeves. I will post a link for each set.

Wildlife Greeting Card Set 1

In this set you will receive a leopard & cub, adolescent chimpanzee, a tropical parrot and a snow leopard bookmark. To see more pictures click on the link http://www.etsy.com/listing/68499177/save-the-chimps-make-a-chimp-smile.

Wildlife Greeting Card Set 2

In this set you will receive a beautiful horse & her colt, a female gorilla & her baby, a mother zebra & her cub and a beautiful white tiger and her cubs bookmark. To see more pictures click on the link http://www.etsy.com/listing/68500848/save-the-chimps-make-a-chimp-smile .

Wildlife Greeting Card Set 3

In this set you will receive a beautiful lion resting peacefully on the African plains, a family of ring tailed lemurs, a mother panda and her cub and a horse & her colt bookmark. To see more pictures click on the link http://www.etsy.com/listing/68501956/save-the-chimps-make-a-chimp-smile .

Wildlife Greeting Card Set 4

In this set you will receive a beautiful elephant and her calf, the elusive black panther and her baby cub, tropical parrots on a swing and a female tiger and her cubs bookmark. To see more pictures click on the link http://www.etsy.com/listing/68503073/save-the-chimps-make-a-chimp-smile .

These cards are special

&

anyone who receives one is going to love it!!!!!

PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER!!!!!

Help me get to one of the islands!!!!

THANK YOU CATHERINE FOR LOVING CHIMPS!!!

your chimp friend,

Brandon

CAREGIVERS NEEDED: EIGHT CUTE LITTLE MONKEYS ARE IN NEED OF A HOME!!!

MAKE A CHIMP SMILE

IS

UP TO SOME MONKEE BIZNESS!!!



HI EVERYONE MEET NICKI, CLYDE & DARBY!!! 

This fundraiser is being hosted by me and my friend Catherine Mollyneaux. Catherine was so nice to donate these Sock Monkeez to Make a Chimp Smile. She is also a BIG supporter of the Great Apes!!! Thank you Catherine for loving Great Apes & Making Chimps Smile!!! 

Proceeds from this fundraiser will be donated to Save the Chimps Sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida to migrate a chimp to one of the 12 islands.

There are eight cute little monkeez looking for new homes. They also come with an outfit so you can dress them up if you want too. There is a pilot, wizard, fireman & more. It is really easy to adopt one! This is for a really good cause and I will make each caregiver an Adoption Certificate.

Please look through the ebay listings below. All you have to do is move your mouse over the pictures and click on the one you like. Also you can click on the link http://shop.ebay.com/makeachimpsmile/m.html to my ebay page. 

MONKEE ADOPTIONS-CLINK ON A MONKEE

I know it would make these monkees happy if you could also share my ebay link http://shop.ebay.com/makeachimpsmile/m.html with your friends & family on facebook and twitter.

I want to give a special Thank You to Catherine & my Mom for helping me with this fundraiser!!!!

Also to all of you for supporting Great Apes!!!

your chimp friend,

Brandon (:(|)

MEETING HARRY HMURA & MY SURPRISE VISIT TO THE CENTER FOR GREAT APES!!!



 

 I have wanted to tell everyone about my chance to meet Harry Hmura and my surprise visit to the Center for Great Apes. I thought since this week is Florida Week for the Animals put on by Animal World USA it would be a good time! Animal World USA is a non-profit that works bringing people and organizations together. They are dedicated to spread awarness of the plight of the animals in the world.

Well, I knew I was going to be able to meet Harry because he called and said he was coming to Florida. Which was really cool!!! I know most of you who follow my blog and facebook group "Make a Chimp Smile!" already know who Harry is but for those who don’t I’ll tell you!

Harry is from Chicago and one of the coolest musicians out there! He started playing when he was only seven years old and likes to play blues and jazz. For my friends that play Halo you probably don’t know it but you have heard Harry play. On the soundtrack of Halo 1, Harry played the “Rock Anthem for Saving the World. On Halo 3-ODST there are many soundtracks that he played and on Halo Reach he performed the song “We Remember”. I think that is really cool!!! You can learn more about Harry and his music by visiting his website at http://harryhmura.com/ and follow him on facebook.

Harry Hmura

Harry isn’t just a great musician he is also the voice of the Great Apes. He is a big supporter and advocates for great apes used in entertainment and in research. He was really nice to help me out with my “Great Ape Protection Act” video. He also has a foundation “Musicians for Apes”. Where musicians and fans support our closet relatives. Also Harry has put on lots of shows that support great apes!




I didn’t know it but when my mom was driving me over to meet Harry we were meeting him at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida. I was really surprised and everyone was really nice there. First I watched a movie about the sanctuary and the great apes and then I got a tour of the sanctuary.



Me & Harry at the Center for Great Apes


When you walk through the sanctuary you can hear the chimps and orangutans getting excited to have visitors. There are lots of trees and bamboo growing around the big enclosures. It is almost like being in a forest. A really cool thing is there are chutes and tunnels where the apes can follow you as you are walking through. They can also go visit friends in other enclosures by going through the tunnels.
Click on Sanctuary Habitats to see pictures.

I really liked meeting all the apes but I was really excited about meeting the orangutan Sammy. He was in the movie “Dunston Checks In”. I really liked that movie but now I know it is wrong to use great apes in entertainment. I also got to meet Bubbles. He was Michael Jackson’s chimp. He likes to fill his mouth with water and spit it on you. He can spit water really far and he got me and my mom. I liked that! Now I tell everyone Bubbles spit water on me!

The best part of the visit was hearing Harry play for the great apes. The chimps and orangutans really liked it. They would watch him and some would even move to the music. When Harry would stop playing they would start hooting. I think they were telling him to keep playing! You can tell the chimps and orangutans know Harry and love his music.



Harry playing for his friends the great apes!

Me & Harry


I wanted to thank Harry & Everyone at the Center for Great Apes for the special visit! I am hoping everyone will learn more about the Center for Great Apes. Please go to their website http://www.centerforgreatapes.org/ so you can meet all the apes and learn about the Sanctuary. Also when you make a donation a 100% of it goes to the care of the chimps and orangutans. You can also become a member which is really cool because you will get an invitation to Member’s Day where you can visit the sanctuary. I have been saving my money to become a member because I can’t wait to go back!!!

Here is a great video!!!

THANKS EVERYONE FOR ALWAYS MAKING CHIMPS SMILE!!!!

your chimp friend

Brandon (:(|)

SEND YOUR FAVORITE CHIMP A NEW FLEECE BLANKET FOR THE NEW YEAR!!!!

Hey Everyone!!!
Guess what? I'm having another fundraiser starting today and ending on the 13th of January.

THIS ONE IS REALLY COOL!!!!

For a $10 donation made to my firstgiving widget to the right or at this link http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/brandon-wood/migrateboy you can send your favorite chimp at Save the Chimps in Florida a nice soft fleece blanket for nesting.

The donation for the blankets is really good. Usually these blankets cost $20 and then you would have to pay for shipping. So $10 is a great price! You could even send 2 chimps a blanket if you really wanted too! If you are not sure which chimp you want to send a blanket to click on Meet the Families and you can go there and meet the chimps.

After you make your donation please email me at Binkswood@gmail.com  to let you know what colors I have and to which chimp you would like to send it to so I can make a tag for it. You can also post it in the comment section of the firstgiving page where you make the donation.

WE HAVE BEEN MAKING BLANKETS FOR THE CHIMPS!

  

fabric to make the blankets



My mom and my brothers Denver & Christian have been helping me. They are even sending a blanket to a chimp!



Here are the different colors!

1 peace sign

2 pink

3 red

2 light blue

3 royal blue

THIS IS THE ONE I MADE FOR ELWAY!!!!!

HERE IS THE ONE CHRISTIAN MADE FOR MELODY!!!

HERE IS THE ONE DENVER MADE FOR BOY!!!!



Don't forget to let me know which chimp you want to get your blanket so I can make a special tag to who it goes to and who it is from.

THERE ARE ONLY 11 BLANKETS

SO IF YOU WANT TO SEND ONE

&

MAKE A CHIMP SMILE

CLICK ON THE LINK!!!

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/brandon-wood/migrateboy

Thanks everyone!

your chimp friend,

Brandon

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

A SPECIAL THANK YOU GOES OUT TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED THE CHIMPS AND SUPPORTED THE GREAT APE PROTECTION ACT THIS YEAR!!!

Hey Everyone!

I just wanted to let you know about stuff I have been doing. It has been a year since I started fundraising for the chimps and speaking out for them.

I was hoping that The Great Ape Protection Act would have been passed. I have been learning about bills and how laws get passed and I think that it takes too long. I hate that chimpanzees have been suffering so long. If you haven’t Taken Action yet for the Great Ape Protection Act PLEASE DO!!!!!!

  





The Humane Society of the United States has a campaign "Chimps Deserve Better" and you can go there and learn about what is happening to the chimps and how you can help.  This is really important and please send the link below to your friends.
https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4665

ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS!!!

I know lots of you that follow me on facebook and twitter know that I got to go to Connecticut to the Roots & Shoots summit and hear Dr. Jane Goodall speak. That was the best! I already knew a lot about Dr. Jane and David Grey Beard. But it was really nice to see her and hear the stories again. Better than YouTube. If you get the chance to hear her speak you should really go. She is so nice and does lots of things for the chimps and all animals.



This image is copywritten ©JGI 2010
Meeting Dr. Jane Goodall
Gombe and Beyond: The next fifty years at
Western CT State University on
October 8, 2010.




I am still fundraising for Save the Chimps and I am hoping that all the chimps will be moved soon to one of the islands. These chimps deserve to be able to run and play on one of the islands. I think it is really cool that they can lay in the grass or sleep under the stars if they want to. If you would like to make a donation please click on the link http://www.firstgiving.com/migrateboy to go to my firstgiving page.

Thanks & Happy New Year!
your chimp friend,
Brandon

LET'S MAKE 2011 THE BEST YEAR FOR THE CHIMPS

&

ALL GREAT APES!!!

JASON SHANAMAN - ARTIST & SCULPTOR HOSTING FUNDRAISER FOR MAKE A CHIMP SMILE!

Jason Shanaman who is a sculptor is hosting a fundraiser for Make a Chimp Smile! You can read his bio below and he also has a website sculpture by jason shanaman .

The sculptures for the fundraiser are called "Primal Thinker" and they only cost $40. Jason who loves great apes and has supported other sanctuaries with his art is generous to donate 50% of his proceeds to Make a Chimp Smile. I'm really excited about this and hope that everyone will support this fundraiser. My mom bought me one and I can't wait till it comes in the mail. This would make a really nice present for someone and be supporting chimpanzees too!

Primal Thinker

 

 

6 1/4 inches tall

Hydrostone bronze coat edition limited to 75 castings $40

Eco cold cast bronze limited to 35 casts $80

"Jason Shanaman started sculpting in 2002 and mainly focused on frogs and lizards. Around 2005 he started to focus on orangutans and then went on to helping with fundraisers for Dr. Gary Shapiro of Orangutan Republik by donating sculptures and creating new work like magnets to help out and raise awareness. He has since went on to create sculptures of mountain gorillas and chimpanzees as well and has a strong desire to see the end of confinement for chimpanzees used in medical research and is also very supportive of the Great Ape Protection Act. He is currently creating new work of various endangered animals to be cast in environmentally friendly casting materials. His primary focus however will always be the great apes."

THANK YOU JASON FOR MAKING CHIMPS SMILE!

To place your order for Primal Thinker

Just click on the link to Jason's etsy store http://www.etsy.com/listing/61321262/chimpanzee-sculpture-primal-thinker to place your order.

or you can contact Jason Shanaman by email jssculpture@hotmail.com

or through his website sculpture by jason shanaman

Remember these are limited edition so order today for the holidays.

THANK YOU!!!!

I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A NICE THANKSGIVING!

Your Chimp Friend

Brandon