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.
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Written by Jennifer O’Connor
