Thank you for your story December 4 about Sid Yost and Amazing Animal Actors, who are our neighbors. Our experience at their establishment has been wonderful. My husband and I have been volunteers at AAA for almost a year. During that time, we have been at the ranch an average of four days a week, usually for about two hours at a time. During these visits, we have seen nothing but love between the animals and the trainers. As volunteers, we are free to come and go as we please, and have had many opportunities to watch the trainers and animals interact when none of them were aware of our presence. We have never seen any abuse of any sort. (Discipline for the two-to-seven year-old chimpanzees is usually in the form of a two minute “time out,” as it is for most preschoolers.)
The chimpanzees react with love and enthusiasm towards their trainers and towards virtually all visitors. As they have been trained with love and affection, they are very lovable and affectionate, showering kisses and hugs on the lucky visitors. As an older volunteer, I have assumed the role of grandmother to the chimpanzees, and their reaction to me is much the same as that of my grandchildren. Usually, I get easy hugs and kisses, but sometimes, if I have not seen them for awhile, they are a bit standoffish, just as my one-year-old granddaughter was last week when I saw her after not seeing her for several months. Then, like my granddaughter, they come around and reward me with the hugs and kisses.
The younger chimps are well-behaved pre-schoolers, as your article stated, responding to both verbal commands and sign language.
Lee Anderson