NYT Editorial: Primates Aren’t Pets
The recent chimpanzee attack in Stamford, Conn., was a tragedy for the woman who was horribly mauled. It was also a reminder that primates should not keep other primates as pets. The obvious reason is the danger involved. No matter how tame they may sometimes appear, chimpanzees are vastly stronger than most people realize. And no matter how socialized a chimpanzee seems, it is still in exile from its kind, its way of being.
Travis, the 200-pound chimp in Stamford who was shot and killed by police, was marginally legal. Had his owner registered him — as required in Connecticut for primates over 50 pounds — he would have been fully legal. But Travis had been exempted, largely for good behavior.
At present, there may be as many as 15,000 primate pets in the United States. Only 20 states prohibit keeping them as pets, and there is no federal law against it. But there may soon be a law that makes it much harder to obtain them.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Captive Primate Safety Act, which would ban the interstate transport of primates as pets. The Senate should quickly follow. The legislation poses no risk to federally licensed facilities, such as zoos and wildlife sanctuaries.
Unfortunately, chimpanzees are only a small part of the global exotic pet trade, which is fueled by greed, curiosity and a misplaced, often wildly sentimental interest in animals. It’s only natural to feel empathy for a chimp that has been orphaned, one way or another, into the human world. But chimps belong with other chimps — in proper wildlife sanctuaries — and not living as if they were nearly human among humans.
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2 Comments
On February 25, 2009, Paula Swartz wrote:
The law should not only be passed for chimps but all exotic animals. If you visit the sancuarys and talk to the owners about the situations that these animals were in before they came there it would make you sick to your stomach. It just isn’t right! Ohio is a terrible state for this situation.
I visited a sancuary there and the abuse those tigers, lions, and monkies endured before they were brought there was terrible! Abuse that no animal should endure!
On February 25, 2009, SDM wrote:
There must be a Federal law against it! There should have been one a long time ago, why does always something tragic have to happen in order for some people to wake up! That poor animal lived a long lonely life confined to small unrealistic quarters only to be shot dead! At least the daily torture of living that way is finished for him, but why can’t we be intelligent enough to prevent harm to other humans and animals alike? Why have we become so “disconnected”??