All it takes is $45,000 and a phone call to get a pet chimp
Saturday, February 21st 2009, 7:14 PM
The phone call lasted all of five minutes.
On one end was an operator of what was then known as the Missouri Primate Foundation, the largest chimp breeder in the nation. On the other was Judie Harrison, an animal lover from Maryland who wanted a pet primate.
In less time than it takes to book a hotel room, Harrison secured purchase of Mikey, an 8-month-old chimp, she said.
"He didn't ask me anything," Harrison told the Daily News. "Do I have a permit? Do I have experience? Do I know anything about chimps? Nothing."
What the mother of three says she did discuss with breeder Mike Casey was payment: $45,000. Cash only.
A couple of weeks later, Harrison and her husband were inside the living room of Mike and Connie Casey, greeting several chimps. After a couple of hours, little Mikey was presented.
"I held him for 15 to 20 minutes while my husband and Mike did the paperwork," Harrison said. "We gave him the cash, and off we left. ... It was easier than buying a puppy."
That was in 2002, but experts say it is still shockingly simple for anyone to obtain a pet chimp - and it doesn't always require a trip across the country.
The almost irresistibly cute baby apes can be purchased online. Others can be bought at exotic animal auctions.
"It's a very underworld kind of thing," said Linda Brent, director of Chimp Haven, a Louisiana primate sanctuary. "It isn't as hard as people probably imagine."
Last week's mauling of a Connecticut woman by Travis - a pet chimpanzee bred at the Caseys' ranch - prompted lawmakers and animal experts to renew calls for a federal ban on buying primates and transporting them across state lines.
It is illegal to own a primate in New York and 19 other states. But in the rest of the country, there is little to no regulation on keeping animals that experts say often turn violent.
"It's a ticking time bomb," said Steve Ross, a primatologist at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. "If you look at how they behave in the wild - infanticide, warfare - these are parts of being a chimp."
Connie Casey - who has split from her husband and now runs the business alone - did not return calls for comment. Sources said she is not currently selling chimps.
Harrison says she realized before it was too late that keeping chimps as pets could lead to tragedy.
At first, she treated Mikey as a member of the family, dressing him in clothes, sleeping beside him at night and even buying him presents for Christmas.
Things were going so well that Harrison decided to purchase a second chimp from the Caseys, an 8-month-old named Louie.
Over the years, the strength and unpredictability of Harrison's primates became an increasing concern. After six years, Harrison decided the chimps were too aggressive and placed them at a zoo in Little Rock, Ark.
Now, Harrison is working to prevent chimps from being sold as pets.
"They cannot be domesticated," Harrison said. "They will always be wild animals. It hardly takes anything to set them off."
No comments:
Post a Comment