Amy Kerwin founded Primates Incorporated in 2004 while working with 97 rhesus monkeys for five years in a laboratory at the University of Wisconsin. She thought the least laboratories and society could do is give back to the monkeys whenever possible by retiring them into enriching and spacious sanctuaries. Since her work environment did not believe in primate retirement, she resigned in 2004 to focus on developing Primates Incorporated into a spacious and enriching monkey sanctuary. Today Primates Incorporated has constructed a much-needed, spacious, and enriching primate sanctuary in Wisconsin. Our vision for this sanctuary is to serve as a prototype for other communities to establish their own sustainable versions so that the thousands of primates who have a chance at retirement can live at a peaceful and spacious sanctuary, such as this one. We anticipate building up to five separate building structures (capacity of 100 monkeys) gradually over the next twenty years. We never want to reach our capacity, however, as we aim to place monkeys at species-appropriate monkey sanctuaries throughout the country when space is available.
