Dallas woman fills role as monkeys’ foster mom
Published: November 25, 2005
Bruce Pokarney at the state agriculture agency said there are 17 state permits for 33 primates. The federal agency has permitted about 3,700 primates in Oregon; more than 3,400 are used for research.
Schultz doesn’t blame people for purchasing pet monkeys. She simply wants to educate potential monkey parents about their needs.
“I can see how people fall in love with them,” she said. “I fell in love with (Ernie).”
Schultz purchased Ernie nine years ago as a pet. With all of her work with animals, including as a bird rehabilitator and vet technician, she thought that she would make a wonderful monkey mom.
“It was a mistake,” she said. “When I realized what it was and saw the whole picture, it was too late. I already had deep feelings for this monkey. So I said, we will rescue one more and Ernie can have a companion.”
Monkeys are wild, intelligent and dangerous, experts say.
“People think monkeys are cute and see them in diapers, and when they are less than 3 to 6 months old, they are very cuddly and cute and have a lot of appeal,” said Robert MacArthur, a retired veterinarian who works with Schultz. “And then they grow up. People realize they cannot take care of that kind of pet — a high-needs kind of pet that demands a lot of attention and a lot of interaction. … they can cause damage to people and as they get older, they can have some pretty nasty bites due to the fact that they have long canine teeth.” [How Monkeys See the World : Inside the Mind of Another Species]
Finding veterinarians who will treat monkeys, information about how to care for them and finding appropriate toys pose additional problems.
But breeders and sellers won’t explain the truth to potential buyers, Schultz said, because the stakes are high: monkey babies start at $6,000.
The solution isn’t a ban, Schultz said.
“Even in places where they banned pet monkeys, people bought them,” she said. “In some places, 10 percent of the monkeys have permits.”
Schultz wants to see laws that require breeders to keep a baby monkey with his or her mom for at least six months — it would keep some people from buying monkeys because they aren’t as cute, but it also would allow the baby monkey to bond emotionally with the mother.
Some of her monkeys, including her beloved Ernie, were pulled from their mothers when they were 2 or 3 days old.
“When Ernie got here, he still had a wet umbilical cord,” she said.
Ernie was so small that he fit in the palm of her hand.
But the cute and cuddly stage quickly changes, she said. And juvenile and adult monkeys need to be treated more like humans.
“They are so intelligent,” she said. “You can’t just put them in a cage. They sit there and think about things.”
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