Primates Aren’t Props

Published by PETA.

Four costumed monkeys who were being used as photo props by a couple at a Mardi Gras celebration were confiscated by Louisiana wildlife officials.  

Despite taking money for allowing people to take photos with the monkeys, the woman claimed that the animals “help” her with her autism. PETA will be contacting the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to request that these four primates—who are suffering from diarrhea and rashes—aren’t put back in harm’s way.

Primates are extremely smart, and their complex social, physical, and psychological needs cannot be met in captivity. Baby monkeys are routinely ripped from their mothers, which is traumatic for both the babies and the mothers, in order to be “hand-raised” and sold as pets. You can dress them up, diaper them, and call them your “babies,” but primates are meant to be in the jungles and rainforests, not on Bourbon Street or Main Street.

nagyman/cc by 2.0

Contact our Action Team to request materials to help you get a ban on exotic “pets” passed in your community.

Written by Jennifer O’Connor

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 Ingrid E. Newkirk

“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?” READ MORE

— Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA President and co-author of Animalkind

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Monkeys don’t belong in laboratory cages.

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Monkeys don’t belong in laboratory cages.

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