The PRC executive director had asked me to elaborate on some of the less-obvious reasons that primate pets are a bad idea. Recent news stories about online scams, violent confrontations at the time of sale, and legal issues that arise when primate pets attack the public are rather common and even seem to be increasing in frequency.
I'll admit, usually my go-to argument on this topic relates more to the pets' needs and the psychological and physical suffering that awaits primates who spend years in captivity. Maybe that's because my priorities are those individual pets, not the humans who are also involved.
However, if this week's PRC blog post reaches new ears by instead relating to the dangers inherent to the potential pet owners, so be it. If it gets more people to reconsider buying a monkey as a pet, that's the goal. I'm sure it doesn't hurt that it features two adorable photographs (Zulu the chimpanzee and Carlos the macaque, in case you're wondering. Both reside at PRC and both spent part of their lives living as pets before arriving at the sanctuary).
Read it, share it, pass it around. If the end result is change, then I'm happy.
Click here to read the post on the Primate Rescue Center blog.
