Problems and Pratfalls of Owning Primate Pets

We have already sacrificed a certain amount of privacy to live in a densely settled, highly interactive society where even our personal decisions may greatly impact the lives of other people. This is especially true in the selection of which pets to adopt. It may seem unfair, but it could possibly be that your beloved pet may be an unacceptable risk for your neighbors. The trade in exotic animals is a multimillion-dollar industry. If you have enough money and know the right people, you can buy virtually any kind of animal (even over Internet websites) with no questions asked.

I have already addressed the subject of snakes but there are other types of pets which may unwittingly cause adverse events for those around them -- namely, primates which include monkeys and chimpanzees.

October 19, 2003 - Stamford, Connecticut

Never could it be said that Travis Herold didn't appreciate the finer things in life ... sipping a tall-stemmed glass of wine, eating ice cream (or filet mignon served over bananas), even watching televised baseball games. The 170-pound chimpanzee had acquired many human skills, including running his own bath water, brushing his teeth, watering the flowers, and even feeding hay to the horses. "Travis is playful, not mean" said his owner and this was fortunate because on this particular day, Travis suddenly bolted from his owner's halted SUV and commandeered a busy intersection for hours in spite of the best attempts of police officers who had arrived in more than a dozen cruisers to restore order and get Travis back in his owner's vehicle. Apparently, someone had thrown a paper cup at the car and Travis had interpreted this gesture as an overture to come out and play.

October 27, 2003 - Kansas City, Kansas

On this day, Ray Wagner was seated at the wheel in his truck parked off Kansas Avenue near Interstate 635 as he filled out paperwork. During the course of this task, he glanced at the 18-wheeler truck parked next to his and noticed what appeared to be a human being attired in a costume. "Looked like he had a monkey mask on," related Wagner later, "and I said 'You take Halloween seriously, don't you?' " In reply the other driver responded with a "primate sound"which Wagner ignored as he pursued the conversation. "What's your story?" Wagner said. When the mysterious stranger "smiled" and started shaking the truck, Wagner finally caught on and said "My God, you are real!"

Alarmed, he then phoned the police who in turn appealed to Animal Control primate specialist Danny Kolwick who would spend more than five hours trying to employ a tranquilizer dart to sedate the chimpanzee and get it into a cage.

The 12-year-old chimp named "Suko" had been sharing the cab of the truck on cross-country trips with her owner Mark Archigo for years. Archigo had left Suko alone in the truck several times but had always gotten her back. Archigo's partner, John Williams, said: "She's just like us. She's a human being, you know?" In spite of being "just like a human," Suko was whisked away to the Savannahland Refuge to share digs permanently with 40 other primates, while Mr. Archigo (who had no proper license to own her) had to face the music, together with charges of animal cruelty and neglect.

September 23, 2004 - Shueyville, Iowa

A telephone utility worker reporting to the home of Sue Kriz at 3080 120th Avenue N.E. was bitten by her Capuchin monkey. The monkey's owner was then arrested after she refused to surrender the animal for the requisite 14-day period required for medical testing and the monkey was removed from the home by a court order.

August 2, 2004 - New York City, New York

While it is illegal to keep monkeys as pets in New York City, the law makes an exception for monkeys trained to help the disabled. For Steven Seidler, "man's best friend" was a monkey who had been trained to help him with chores, opening doors and picking things up. Alas, on this day during the course of grocery shopping, Steven and his best friend encountered two-year-old Thomas Romano in a Brooklyn supermarket and the monkey bit the child on his arm. Mr. Seidler contends that Thomas pulled the monkey's hair but the boy's grandparents insisted the bite had been "unprovoked."

They Are What They Are

It is unfortunate that some pet owners think of their animals as their children, which may be an unfair burden for a pet who deserves to be respected and loved for what it is, not for coming in second-best to what the owner wishes it was. Especially, this is unfair for the powerful and proud members of the primate class. While it may be true that monkeys and their cousins dangled with us from the same family tree at one time and seem to possess almost human qualities, it does not follow that all of them really want to share our homes, eat food off our dishes, and suffer the abject humiliation of having to wear diapers or clothes.

Some primates may adapt well to a domestic situation - and in fact perform important tasks, as in the case of Mr. Seidler's monkey - but that our way of life may create stress for such animals is evidenced by dozens of reports filed regarding bites and sometimes vicious attacks committed by primate pets, often unexpectedly for "no apparent reason." If these animals are stressed out and unhappy, it may be argued that there really is no such thing as an "unprovoked" attack of this nature. Especially alarming is the specter of the majority of monkey bites going unreported by fearful owners who don't want their pets to be taken away from them. Primate pets are incredibly strong and swift and sometimes their "hissy fits" can turn deadly, as in this next incident.

March 4, 2005 - Bakersfield, California

St. James Davis and his wife LaDonna missed their pet Moe, a 39-year-old chimpanzee who had been removed from their suburban Los Angeles home in 1999 after biting off part of a woman's finger. The couple had waged an unsuccessful legal fight to have Moe returned to their West Covina home and now visited him regularly at the Animal Haven Sanctuary. On this occasion they had brought him a cake and were standing outside his cage when Buddy and Ollie, two chimpanzees in an adjoining cage, suddenly escaped and apparently without provocation attacked Mr. Davis. No one knows why or how the chimps got out of their cage but Moe was not involved in the attack. The enraged animals chewed most of Mr. Davis' face off and also created other grievous bodily injuries to him.

Buddy, who initiated the attack, was shot as was Ollie but not before the animal had grabbed the gravely injured man and dragged him down the road. Meanwhile Susie and Bones - two female chimps who had shared digs with Buddy and Ollie -- also escaped, prompting sheriff's deputies, animal control workers, and Fish & Game officials to launch a　search for them through the surrounding area.

Chimpanzees are not without their appeal but they can turn surly if not handled properly. "Chimps are notoriously strong and they have some very, very specific behaviors," advised Martine Colette who was the animal director of another animal sanctuary near Los Angeles where Moe had been housed for a time. She added that "If　someone tries to confine them, they will definitely put up a fight".

Sources:

Various articles at www.petmonkey.info/news.htm