Canada's "Ikea monkey" to spend Christmas at sanctuary
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A stylishly-attired monkey became an instant Internet celebrity, and triggered an animal welfare investigation, when it was found wandering in a Canadian furniture store car park.
The months-old rhesus macaque, named Darwin, spent the night at an animal shelter in Toronto after he was found wandering around an IKEA lot wearing a sheepskin coat on Sunday afternoon.
Darwin apparently opened his crate and the door of his owner's vehicle and went for a stroll. His adventure, however, didn't stop there.
Snap-happy Canadians took photographs of the cute critter and posted them online and Darwin immediately became a viral sensation on social media.
His image was pasted into mockups of the IKEA catalogue, atop Toronto's CN Tower, in Canada's parliament seated next to the prime minister and elsewhere.
A prankster registered a Twitter account in Darwin's name, writing: "I'm way over dressed for this animal shelter" and "There's a cat giving me weird looks... What do I do?"
Outside Canada's parliament, opposition MP Chris Charlton evoked the monkey in swipes at the government: "Conservatives are as lost as a monkey in an IKEA. Though at least the monkey was wearing a coat to cover his shame."
But animal welfare authorities were less amused.
Mary Lou Leiher of Toronto's Animal Services said: "He's not very happy right now. He's comfortable, but he's having a bad day."
Canada is no place for a rhesus macaque, she told a press conference.
"It's a very exotic choice for a pet," she said. "Common sense would say, 'Get a dog.'"
Darwin's owners have reportedly been slapped with a Can$240 (187 euro) fine for owning a prohibited exotic pet and Animal Services is now looking for a new home for Darwin at an animal sanctuary.
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Monkey see, Monkey do...
Monkey goes pew pew pew~~
No one told him they dun sell guns in IKEA
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The cute monkey dressed up well for winter
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Ikea monkey's owner goes to court to get 'child' back
The owner of a stylishly-attired monkey -- which became an instant Internet celebrity and was seized by authorities after it was found wandering in a Canadian car park -- went to court Thursday to get it back.Canadian media said Yasmin Nakhuda's lawyer told an Ontario Superior Court that she is willing to move out of Toronto, which prohibits owning exotic pets, in order to regain custody of the animal named Darwin.
Nakhuda reportedly broke down in tears in court as her lawyer described how zooologists, journalists and others have been permitted to see the monkey during the past two weeks, while she has been prevented from visiting Darwin at an animal sanctuary.
Kakhuda has said Darwin is more like a child to her than a pet.
The months-old rhesus macaque was found wandering around the parking lot of an IKEA furniture store wearing a sheepskin coat one afternoon in early December.
Darwin had apparently opened his crate and the door of his owner's vehicle to go for a stroll.
Snap-happy Canadians took photographs of the cute critter and posted them online, and Darwin immediately became a viral sensation on social media.
But animal welfare authorities were less amused.
Mary Lou Leiher of Toronto's Animal Services told a press conference that Canada is no place for a rhesus macaque.
"It's a very exotic choice for a pet," she said. "Common sense would say, 'Get a dog.'"
Nakhuda was slapped with a Can$240 (187 euro) fine for owning a prohibited exotic pet, and Animal Services placed Darwin at an animal sanctuary.
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Yasmin Nakhuda leaves court after being denied custody of her famed pet monkey Darwin in Oshawa, Ontario December 21, 2012. Nakhuda was awarded visitation rights but denied them. Police were called to the Ikea store on the afternoon of December 9, 2012 in Canada's most populous city after the monkey broke loose from its cage and began running around a parking area. The monkey is currently being held at an animal sanctuary near Sunderland ...Ontario. It is illegal in the city of Toronto to keep exotic pets.
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Mary Lou Leiher of Toronto's Animal Services told a press conference that Canada is no place for a rhesus macaque.
"It's a very exotic choice for a pet," she said. "Common sense would say, 'Get a dog.'"
Common sense would say, "not making decision for others"
A rhesus macaque might not adapt to canada's environment but the way she puts it is quite disgustingly elite...
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Originally posted by ^Acid^ aka s|aO^eH~:
Common sense would say, "not making decision for others"
A rhesus macaque might not adapt to canada's environment but the way she puts it is quite disgustingly elite...
In the first place she broke the rules. From the ways she and the monkey dressed up must be of some high social standing. If she is rich, that doesn't mean she is above the law. There's nothing elitish about the statement, I rather find it too polite to start with. If she can afford, maybe go get a cow...