Epiphany Monkey

By Cindy Carroccio

I am afraid I have to admit having been to the "dark side" of primate pet trade. When I started my facility I thought I needed a monkey for "education". I also figured that I would need an infant so I could raise/train him the way I needed to.

I gave little thought to the sequence of events that would lead up to the moment I took possession of the little monkey, So I called a dealer I found in Animal Finders Guide. They listed that they did have infant primates for sale. I wanted a capuchin, figuring they would be easy to get and relatively inexpensive.

Well, guess what? He didn't have any capuchins but he did have a baby girl patas monkey. She was located down in South Texas at a breeder's place. I didn't really have a clue what a patas monkey was and asked if she would make a good education animal. He assured me she would. I looked her up in a primate book and found out they were native to Kenya so figured she would acclimate fine to this climate. My brain wasn't firing all cylinders.

Anyway, made arrangements to meet the breeder/dealer at a convenience store located somewhere in the vicinity of his place. He shows up with a tiny monkey only 7 days old. He had her in a towel and was holding a baby bottle. He said, "You know how to feed a monkey, right?" This was the extent of our verbal exchange ever. I assured him I did and I handed over the cash as was required by the guy. It felt like a drug deal.

All the way home (three hour drive) the baby screamed. I couldn't believe this tiny creature the size of a Barbie doll had that kind of lung capacity. But I couldn't hold her as I was driving and felt it safer to just put the pedal to the metal and get home as quickly as possible.

Upon arriving at home, I took her into my room, closed the door and got her a bottle ready. She flew out of the carrier and tried to hide under the covers on the bed. I grabbed her and tried to feed her. I figured it had been at least 4 hours since her last feeding so she has to be hungry, right? Well, she wouldn't take the bottle. I'd raised enough orphan deer fawns to note that this baby has never been on a bottle. My brain started working again and it dawned on me that this man had ripped the baby from her mommie right before I showed up at the store!

Well, Mabel (that's the name we gave her) didn't take her bottle she passed out cold!
I freaked! I called the vet and scheduled an appointment. Right before we were to go to the vet she woke up. She looked at me, didn't scream and took the bottle. Needless to say, we did keep the appointment anyway. Good thing, too, as she was riddled with internal parasites at 1 week old! The vet said this meant that the mom is also loaded with worms.I was livid! How could anyone sell a sick animal, much less breed a sick animal?

Mabel became my "epiphany" monkey. She opened my eyes and I became this breeder's worst nightmare. I did some investigating and lo and behold the bastard wasn't even licensed. No wonder he didn't want me to see his place. But since I was USDA licensed I called my inspector and she was happy to get the news as they were looking for him. Seems he had some bonobo chimps and other animals. Well, long story short, he got in big trouble and will never be able to get a license again. I personally hope he has come down with a nice case of internal parasites. Serves him right.

And Mable never did make an education animal. She has two former pet patas monkey friends and they are all little She Devils. Not their fault. I guess, I take it back, Mabel is an education animal. She is an ambassador to why primates do not make pets! And that the primate trade is riddled with scum.

I am doing my best now to repent for my misdeeds.