At Gemini Springs in DeBary recently, Johnson pushed "Jessy" around in a toy-filled red stroller, a sight that drew attention. "Hey, it's a real monkey," hollered one youngster, who did a double take.
Johnson replied with a grin: "That's not a monkey; that's my kid."
The trend is controversial. Animal sanctuaries are seeing a rise in monkeys who are abandoned or relinquished as they mature. The Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Gainesville has a waiting list of monkeys that need placement.
Many owners say they adore their hairy companions and give them the best of care. Animal-rights groups, however, are fighting hard to ban primate pets. Congress is discussing a bill that would prohibit interstate travel for monkeys, a move that would hamper sales.
Beth Preiss, director of The Humane Society's exotic-pets campaign, said animal sanctuaries are full of monkeys whose owners coddled them as infants and then abandoned them when they became tough to control.
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"Your kid it may be," the youngster retorted "but it is definitely still a monkey."
/sarcasm
To bad we can't do this with our kids as they turn into teenagers. LOL
I can see the appeal for some people; many enjoy having a tiny dependent who doesn't talk back, and is little more than glorified toy. It's when those toys start growing up and thinking for themselves that those people start regretting having kids. A monkey, however, will forever act like a three year old kid, and will forever be needful of a "parent".
That said, I don't think it's a good idea. Wait until the first custody fight over a monkey.
Ooh, better yet, what about learning to deal like people have forEVER until now?
People will so readily call animals family but still get rid of them when they become an inconvenience. At least when that happens with human children, someone (usually) has to pay the price.
People need to understand the emotional and physical investment it takes to raise an animal, no matter what species.
Poachers go to steal the babies and end up killing all of the adult monkeys in a troop/family who defend their babies and then sell the meat. very cute
I can see the scenario, as far as people adopting the chimps, then seeing that they cannot be controlled as they grow up. Few people realise that your 'run of the mill' chimp grows up to be a very strong, aggressive individual. We are talking lethal strength from these critters. I can see the animal shelters filling with these animals, who had no business being pets, in the first place.
My wife and I got our dog, Heidi, from an animal rescue shelter. She had been taken from a kill pound, as a pup. There were plenty more dogs and cats sitting in their cages, waiting for someone to take them home with them. We did all that we could do. I would have taken the whole lot of them, if situations warranted it. Putting apes in these non profit shelters would drive them under, financially.
My dog is my dog, by the way, not my kid.
"Humanizing" wild animals is one of the worst mindsets for animal conservation. If I ever meet someone who owns an exotic animal, I will not hesitate to give them a peace of my mind.