ABC is running a story right now on people who raise capuchins as their children - there's a lady dressing her monkey in ball gowns and feeding it ice cream and lollipops.

This is a really sad story - especially after seeing them in the wild.

Some people need to "get a life"...

It was pretty awful; they removed the monkey's teeth and some had their fingers removed to keep them from biting and scratching - really sad; they said they sell for between $5,000 and $8,000 each.

I am hoping that the monkeys urinate in their cheerios every morning when they aren't looking. I can't believe that not only are there idiots like this in this world, but that ABC is giving them air time.

They asked one lady why she did this, and she said because the monkey will never grow up and she'll always have a baby; it creeped me out.

OMG, I saw that too. I agree, it was very sad to watch. People are ridiculous. When that crazy lady said because the monkey will never grow up I just had to change the channel at that point.

I'm sooo glad I missed that show!! I would have been very angry and upset. It's truly amazing how some people can have such ignorance and lack of compassion or respect for animals (and for other people, for that matter...).

I missed it, sounds good I did. What was the show, like Dateline or something, or the whole show just about people who own monkeys? I would think in many places it would be illegal.

tully, it's a new PrimeTime type show called The Outsiders - every week they feature people who are sort of outside the norm so to speak; last week the did Amish kids on Rumspringa (sp?) deciding if they want to leave the Amish or stay. This week was the monkey people. Some of the monkeys did get their revenge though; one lady had 14 stitches from where her "baby" attacked her. They said so many people dump these animals after they realize how difficult it is to keep a wild animal in your home. They showed a sanctuary where a woman had taken them all in. The monkeys seemed content to be there, where they weren't subjected to wearing "outfits" and doing things that were not natural.

The one older lady was the nuttiest; she was giving her monkey ice cream cones and lollipops, and would take it to McDonald's drive-through for French fries. Then they showed these picnics that these groups had and all the monkey people would gather; they even had baboons wearing dresses - can you imagine? The woman and her husband referred to the monkey as their daughter. I guess I shouldn't be judgmental but really, poor animals.

This weirdness is not unprecedented. Sam Pryor, a Pan American Airlines executive, and friend of aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, had four Asian gibbons, by the name of Keiki, George, Lani, and Kippy, which he called his “children.” After Prior and his wife died, they were buried next to their gibbons in the same church graveyard as Lindbergh on the island of Maui.

There's also the recent story of Moe the chimp....

http://tinyurl.com/5afm59