Coulston Foundation Shuts Down
Faced by enormous financial problems, the Coulston Foundation shut down in September. The 266 primates under the foundation’s care will be transferred to the Florida-based non-profit Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care.
At its height in the 1990s, the Coulston Foundation had over 600 primates and more than 100 employees engaged in various research projects.
The Coulston Foundation had faced protests, opposition and acts of terrorism from animal rights activists over the years. It also had a spotty record for ensuring the welfare of its animals, being formally charged four times by the USDA for violating the Animal Welfare Act. The Coulston Foundation’s fate was sealed when the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the US Department of Agriculture all withdrew their financial support .
The Foundation then fell behind on its debt payments and the First National Bank of Alamogordo filed foreclosure papers on the Foundation in December 2001. Foundation CEO Fred Coulston tried but failed to find a buyer for the laboratory and agreed to transfer the primates to the CCCC, which received a $3.7 million grant from the Arcus Foundation to purchase the Coulston Foundation’s buildings and equipment.
Sources:
More than 300 research chimps and monkeys retired, turned over to preserve. Richard Benke, Associated Press, September 18, 2002.
Coulston lab shuttered; monkeys get new caretakers. New Mexico Business Weekly, September 18, 2002.
Tags: Coulston Foundation, Florida, Primates, United States