ABC Outsiders Tonight: Call of the Wild: Adopting Monkeys
Tuesday July 1, 2008
Tonight (July 1, 2008) ABC Outsiders is airing a show called Call of the Wild: Adopting Monkeys which will look at some individuals who have adopted monkeys and treat them mostly as surrogate kids. ABC.com has a summary of the show and view some video clips, but if you're like me and also want to watch tonight, check your local listings. I've said before that I am not a big fan of keeping monkeys as pets, but the issue of treating monkeys as kids is even more of a welfare concern to me. To me the primary issue is that pet monkeys in captivity may be unable to express a full range of normal monkey behavior and therefore may be repeatedly frustrated (and can develop some serious problems as a result). This could be even more of a concern where monkeys are expected to act more like children than monkeys, especially if people are placing expectations on their companion monkeys which the monkeys are not equipped to meet. Do you think monkeys make good pets? What about expecting them to act like surrogate children? Use the comments link below to share your views.
Comments
I saw the episode on Primetime about people BUYING wild monkeys to act as surrogate children. Where does the word adoption come into the picture? They are for SALE! Did these people ever consider helping mankind by adopting a child, fostering a child, volunteering at a day care, . . . If they really cared about monkeys, they would know that leaving them in their natural habitat is what’s best for everyone. Furthermore there are many domesticated animals that provide companionship. Expecting a wild animal to act like a human is cruel and unnatural. These people are very selfish and indeed a bit nuts!