Davis - Blogs | Blog | New student group supports Chimp Haven

13 Mar

Animal Awareness and Conservation, a new student group at West Virginia University, is turning its organizational interests into action with its first major service activity.

Students from the group will be collecting items for Chimp Haven, the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Caddo Parish, La. It’s an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide lifetime care for chimpanzees that have been retired from medical research, the entertainment industry or are no longer wanted as pets.

“We chose Chimp Haven because of its non-profit status, its mission to provide a long term home for chimpanzees retired from medical research and its wish list, which is perfect for college students to support,” said Debra Richardson, one of the founders of Animal Awareness and Conservation.

Richardson is pursuing a master’s degree in agricultural and extension education in the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design. She was inspired to start the organization by another Davis College graduate student.

“I created Animal Awareness and Conservation last semester after meeting Tina Dow and learning about the nonprofit organization she and her husband created, Wildlife Research and Conservation,” Richardson explained. “I wanted to bring something similar to WVU and use student participation to help educate ourselves and the public about conservation issues.”