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“I’ll give you the government line,” she said. “The Animal Welfare Act was designed to protect certain animals, mostly dogs and monkeys. But unfortunately, the law is pretty pathetic. It only offers minimal standards for housing, food, and exercise. Any experiments have to be reviewed by the IACUC.”
“IACUC?” frowned Nine.
“Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Animals most commonly used in experiments are mice and rats that are specifically bred for experiments. They’re not counted in the statistics for animal welfare. I guess the government considers them ‘just’ mice and rats. The vast majority of experiments on animals are not required by government law or regulations. Even though that’s true, most government agencies want companies to carry out animal tests to look at things like toxicity, efficacy, etc. Especially on things like chemicals, pesticides, medical devices, and medicines.”
“Jesus,” muttered Ghost. “It’s almost more humane to eat them. I can understand why people protest this shit now. There has to be a better way, Riley.”
“If there is, Ghost, I don’t know what it is. It’s a dilemma the medical industry has faced for years. We need the drugs or devices or chemicals, but it has to be tested before we use it. We can’t test on humans until it’s been cleared by the FDA, so the only alternative is animals.”
“Looks like this might be our path to follow,” said Pork. The others all nodded at one another.
“Looks like it.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“How many have you been able to save?” Gaspar asked his baby, walking into the animal sanctuary.
“Not as many as I would have liked, Dad,” said Lucy, shaking her head. “Violet and Striker went out with Dex to search some remote places that these guys could be hiding. I just don’t know.”
“Hey, Luce, you’re doing everything you can, honey,” he said, hugging his little girl. She wasn’t so little any longer. A wife, mother, and most likely, soon to be grandmother. But she was still his baby.
“Do you want to see our newest addition to the Robicheaux zoo?” she grinned.
“Oh, shit. Do I? I mean, please don’t let it be a crocodile or one of those damn pythons,” frowned Gaspar. Nine, Ian, and Ghost could only chuckle.
“Actually, you might relate to this animal.”
They followed her toward the kennels, but she didn’t stop there. Instead, she moved around toward the larger barns. Larger barns meant bigger animals. Around the corner was a massive enclosure that they’d built to hold the elephants when they had them. Instead of elephants, there was something else. In fact, a very large something else.
“A gorilla!” the four men said in unison.
“She’s sweet,” said Lucy, smirking at the four men. “She’s older and was never able to have babies. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t matter at this point. She’s probably thirty, maybe thirty-one. Gorillas typically don’t live past forty.
“She’s an eastern lowland gorilla. She’s probably close to five feet and two hundred pounds. A safari park in Texas couldn’t care for her any longer, so until we can find a zoo willing to take her, we’re going to keep her here.”
“Can’t we send her back to where she came from?” frowned Ian.
“She came from here. She was born in captivity. She would never survive in the wild. We have to keep her here until we find the right place for her. Besides, watch what she does,” smiled Lucy.
Sniff opened the back of her cage, setting four puppies inside and then closing the gate. When the inner gate opened, the puppies scrambled toward her as if seeing their mother for the first time. She gently picked them up, cradling two in each arm. Her big lips kissed the tops of their little heads, her hands gently rubbing them.
“Am I drunk?” frowned Ghost. “Am I seeing this right?”
“I told you she’s a sweetheart. She’s very protective and motherly. She doesn’t have her own baby.”
“Does ‘she’ have a name?” frowned Gaspar.
“Yes.” Lucy giggled. “Semabi, but she’s called Sema.” The gorilla heard her name and looked up, scooting closer to the walls of her cage. Lucy wiggled her fingers, and Sema wiggled her own back. She closed her thick fingers, touching her lips.
“Is she signing!” yelled Nine.
“Yep, she’s hungry. Can you get that bucket of vegetables and fruits over there?”
Nine nodded, lifted the bucket, and carried it toward them. He was smart enough to have a healthy fear of the beast, but when she looked at him with her deep, rich brown eyes, he couldn’t help but feel compassion for her. He opened the small door at the bottom of the enclosure and shoved the bucket in. Before he could remove his hand, she gripped his wrist.
“Don’t pull! Don’t fight her. She’ll think you’re an aggressor. She just wants to thank you,” said Lucy. Setting the puppies down, Sema reached into her bucket and grabbed an orange slice. Laying it in Nine’s hand, she patted him as if to dismiss him.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” he said, standing with the orange in his hand. Sema was still staring at him.
