My Child is a Monkey

Nope, not making disparaging remarks about my own progeny though T's nickname was "Monkey" for quite a while.  He forbade me to continue calling him that about 4 years ago.  Anyway, that is the title of a program I just saw on National Geographic; yup, humans who keep monkeys as pets.  Or as one woman said, "He is not my pet, he's my lifelong companion."

It was even worse than the dog owners who treat their dogs as children:  the diapers, the bonnets, the hugs and kisses were bad enough; allowing them to eat off of the same plate, allowing them the same (bad) human diet and putting the animals before the human children?  No, no, no!  I actually yelled, "You have to be kidding me!"  I've often made fun of people for talking back to their TV sets.  Now look at what I have been reduced to.

Several primate experts on the show described monkeys as perpetual infants so it was no surprise to note that most of these monkey fanatics are women--especially the middle-aged women whose own children have left the nest.  One owner surprised me though; early 40s with 7 children of her own!  This woman's friend has 2 monkeys, both of whom are entering puberty.  One of these monkeys attacked one of the children and got put in "time out".  Lovely.

The self-proclaimed "Monkey Whisperer" extolled the virtues of primates as companions (see quote above) and then emphasized the need for precautions, especially around children.  She strongly advised that animals be altered--in the canine world, this means desexing.  In the monkey world it means desexing and removal of the canine teeth and sometimes the others as well.  After all says this primate fan, "Would you rather have a ripping, tearing wound or a bruise?"

If it's all the same to you, I'll stick with turtles.