By providing biographic information and regular updates, volunteers make public the cause of nonhuman great apes, shedding light on harsh realities that often remain hidden from view. As the information becomes available, GAP can determine which individuals need help first and where efforts have the greatest likelihood of improving their lives. Sentience, family bonds and community-based lifestyles are ignored as they are subjected to pain, isolation and fear. Even in instances where protective laws apply, the laws can be totally ineffective. Only a few have been lucky enough to find homes in decent sanctuaries.
GAP works to expose and eradicate oppressive and abusive situations that nonhuman great apes endure.
For example, in the case of nonhuman great apes used in entertainment, it is important to note that film and ad makers usually use very young, dependent babies. This practice not only violates the important mother-child bond, but also creates an image that great apes are small, sweet and gentle animals. That image, in turn, creates a demand for apes as pets, supporting the notorious exotic pet trade. At that point, they are often quietly killed or shipped off to laboratories, where they can be subjected to hideous experiments such as toxicity experimentation and drug research. Such experiments forced on nonhuman great apes are ethically reprehensible because they are imposed on unwilling, sentient and aware individuals.