Irresponsible Owner Has Monkey Back

Hollywood man's pet monkey found safe

By JUAN ORTEGA and JOEL MARINO

Sun Sentinel

A monkey that disappeared from his owner's Hollywood home on Wednesday was found safe and uninjured late Friday.

Simon, a year-old, black-tufted marmoset, was rescued by officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Though details of the rescue were not available, the monkey's owner -- Daniel Alamary, 25, said a man had trapped his pet and then sold it to someone in Pembroke Pines.

``The officers basically told him he'd be in a lot of trouble if he didn't say how he got that monkey, so he just told them everything,'' Alamary said. Simon disappeared as Alamary prepared to move from Hollywood to Fort Lauderdale.

``I've had him since he was a baby,'' Alamary said, recalling how Simon was the size of a thumb when he was born.

Alamary said he reported Simon's disappearance to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday.

Alamary said he was canvassing his neighborhood Thursday, when he found an employee from an assisted-living facility who told him he had seen the monkey at his workplace.

The employee from North Lake Retirement Home in Hollywood told Alamary the monkey had delighted the facility's residents, Alamary said.

However, when a man visiting one of the residents saw Simon, he said he wanted to capture the monkey and sell him, Alamary said.

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