Woman fights for her monkey
By Gina Spadafori
June 7, 2007
Honestly, I’m no fan of exotic pets. They’re generally not good companions, and few people are prepared to deal with behavior issues and proper feeding and housing. That’s why I read the Washington Post article on a woman fighting to free her monkey back with very mixed feelings:
Elyse Gazewitz continued her fight last night to free her monkey, Armani, from the custody of Montgomery County authorities, arguing that she was not allowed to find her pet a temporary home before he was deemed illegal and seized.
In a 45-minute hearing before the county’s Animal Matters Hearing Board, Gazewitz’s lawyer argued that she deserved 10 days under county law to move Armani out of state before animal control officers took him from her Rockville home last month. Rockville lawyer Anne Benaroya also argued that capuchin monkeys like Armani are easily tamed and should not be considered a “wild animal” under county law.
Gazewitz, 42, did not speak at the hearing but broke into tears afterward, saying, “I want Armani to come home.” The monkey, whom she calls her baby and “little boy,” is being kept at a Frederick County zoo while the appeal is pending.
I don’t know why she can’t keep her monkey. When I lived on the coast as a young girl, many people owned monkeys and we thought it was cute. Of course, I never heard any thing bad about them, and remember one that liked my mother and everytime he’d see her, the monkey would jump up to her and she’d carry him about. We all liked the monkeys.
Draconian laws meant to protect the masses from bands of vicious creatures end up hurting a woman and her tame monkey. Sad.
Comment by Linda — June 7, 2007 @ 8:37 am
I’m with Gina on this one. I live in an area of Costa Rica native to several types of monkeys, including the capuchin breed at issue in the story. Here, it also is illegal to keep them as pets, not because of danger to humans (although I am sometimes amused watching the capucins throw coconuts at tourists who are bothering them) but for the welfare of the monkeys, which is one of the stated reasons for the MD laws.
Some excerpts from a veterinarian’s article:
For these monkeys, heaven is lounging in a treetop, munching on a crunchy lizard while surrounded by their parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And yet some humans think they might be happier if they were never allowed to climb higher than 10 feet, never saw another monkey, and instead dressed in baby clothes, wore diapers, and ate baby cereal until they died of malnutrition. . .
Over the hundreds of thousands of years that humans have become masters of civilization, monkeys have become masters of the jungles. Humans have a nasty habit of being selfish and shortsighted. Sitting with you on your couch dressed in a sailor suit watching documentaries about monkeys on the Discovery Channel is no substitute for swinging through the treetops with their extended family.
http://www.petmonkey.info/pets_or_prisoners.htm
Comment by Ticocats — June 7, 2007 @ 9:58 am
Nature knows best and natural laws should prevail argument. Sounds good and seems reasonable. And does this apply to just monkeys who swing on tree tops instead of chandeliers or is this applicable to all animals as being better off wild than owned by thoughtless humans?
And what about endangered animals that are rounded up and put on arks and left to die at sea…I’m afraid that nature isn’t doing such a good job of protecting the earths wild animal population….swinging trees plowed under making the way for condos……do we let them be free until they are extinct?
Comment by Linda — June 7, 2007 @ 10:06 am
More on Monkey Madness:
http://tinyurl.com/3a4qpe
Comment by Linda — June 7, 2007 @ 10:59 am
There are many animals that can be domesticated that shouldn’t be because of the very nature of the animal.
Maybe this lady should donate monies to Frederick County Zoo for another monkey then her little baby boy would have a real friend, start an Armani Project.
Comment by Maudigan — June 7, 2007 @ 11:29 am
I must admit after reading how difficult it is to properly raise monkeys in captivity - they have such special needs and can’t be left alone to their own devices. I can only hope this woman is a good and proper caretaker and doesn’t dress her monkey in sailor suits to watch King Kong reruns on a big screen TV.
Comment by Linda — June 7, 2007 @ 2:07 pm