Following up on my post of last week on the subject of the insanity of wild animal ownership, the New York Times had an interesting article today on the subject of primate pets, particularly topical given the proposed legislation that just passed the House regulating interstate primate sales.  The whole article’s worth a read, but I’ll just provide you with a representative extract (emphasis added):

Bob, who’s owned wild animals all his life, admits Higgins [a Hamadryas baboon] has not always been a model pet. When Higgins was 3, he slept with the couple, often awakening Bob in the morning by climbing to the bedroom rafters and dropping onto Bob’s stomach. On one occasion, they got in a wrestling match, and Higgins put one of his “steel-like fingernails” through Bob’s scrotum.

Bob has considered moving him to a sanctuary, but “I’m just too attached to him,” he says.

Need we say more?

Tags: Captive Primate Safety Act, chimp, New York Times, Travis

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