By Sony Rickson

Breeders will always be there, nobody will ever change that! As far back as history goes, man always lived with pets – even exotics. Since there are breeders and there is no way that anyone is going to stop them, why not concentrate more on the actions of breeders and the people who purchase their animals? Do they truly care about the primates they are breeding, do they place them in homes that are proper for them, do they tell people the facts about the primates they are placing before they sell it to them? Are they interested in the welfare of the animal or is it the money or making a name for themselves that matters most? Do the people purchasing the animal know the proper care of that species, can they afford the vet care and housing requirements, why are they purchasing this type of animal? (more…)

By Anita

Pookie, my 5 yr old Java Macaque and Alex our 31/2 yr old Spider like to liven up our weekends for us.

I suppose it was Alex’s turn to start and he had spent a good deal of his time Saturday swingin on his swing. Later I go in to see them and what did I find but half of my clothes in the floor of his cage! He had managed to bang a hole in the wall inside of his cage and one in the wall of our closet. When he got tired of swinging he decided to pull my clothes through the holes and lined the whole floor of his cage with them!

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By Walt

I had taken the day off from work the day that we planned to do the work on Scotty’s teeth and the doctor who was doing the work had closed their office to be sure that they would have plenty of time with no interruptions to finish the work. Their were 4 people working on Scotty for 4 hours. I had to put him down before I ever left home with him. He would have never allowed someone other than myself to give him the shot he had to have. He was soooo funny. I gave him the drugs and he was drunk in just a few minutes. He came outside and staggered to the car getting in his seat. I placed theseatbelt on him and to the doctors office we went. I pulled up next to some police officers who freaked out when they saw Scotty, they looked again and then raced up to make sure they were not seeing things. Scotty was obviously drugged and they could tell it.

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By Walt

To begin with I worked at a small zoo and one of my duties was to care for all the needs of the primates. Scotty was just a few weeks old and the decision was made to remove him and hand raise him. It was my duty to tranquilize the parents and go in the enclosure and remove Scotty. I did this without my heart in it because I knew I was pulling a family apart. I carried Scotty home that night and all he did was hide in the very back of his carrier. I made no attempt to push myself on him and allowed him to decide when he wanted to accept me. After three days he screamed and ran form his carrier and attached himself to my leg where he remained for the most part of the day. Luckily I was off that day. After only two weeks, I returned Scotty to the zoo area where his parents were he just hugged me and his parents acted as if they did not know who little Scotty was, he never looked back. He did have an older sister at the zoo who I would bring home from time to time and let them play and they bonded quite well.

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