Wild Futures calls for Joey Essex to meet his namesake – Joey the monkey
Joey Essex, from the reality television show, The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE), has over two million followers on Twitter and with the latest viewing average of the series at 1.3 million, he is acknowledged as a bit of a trend setter. It’s all usually good fun, but Wild Futures, the leading primate welfare charity, is worried that Joey’s latest idea may just be all wrong!
Just as the furore over Justin Bieber has died down, Joey has also been talking about getting a pet monkey and Wild Futures fears that could spark a whole new interest in pet monkey keeping, despite the serious suffering and real dangers involved.
Wild Futures has invited Joey Essex to its Sanctuary to meet his namesake, Joey capuchin. Monkey Joey’s mother was killed for bush meat when he was just three months old. Joey was then sold into the international primate pet trade. Brought to the UK he suffered nine long years of isolation, away from his own kind and in a cage so small he started to go stir crazy. With no access to natural sunlight and a poor diet, he developed serious bone disease. By the time he was rescued from a flat in London by Wild Futures, he was severely disabled and spent his day rocking back and forth, causing an open sore on the base of his spine.
Wild Futures’ invitation request is supported by the RSPCA. The charity’s Dr Ros Clubb said: “We’re against keeping primates as pets. We are dealing with an increasing number of cases where monkeys are suffering because people who have bought them do not know how to look after them. Some have been found living in cramped parrot cages and others unable to walk because of bone disease resulting from a poor diet.
“They’re highly intelligent, complex animals and are just not suited to home environments.
“We think it would be fantastic if Joey Essex could visit The Monkey Sanctuary and meet Joey the monkey so he can see for himself why having a pet monkey is a bad idea for both of them.”
Typically, at first, owners of pet monkeys believe that they have a wonderful relationship with their pet primate. No wonder they think this – the baby has been removed from its mother far before the natural dependency period is over and desperately seeks comfort by clinging to someone. But time passes, and as baby grows up and matures, things change and the trouble begins.
Simply being born in captivity and raised in a human household does not mean that a monkey is “domesticated”. Monkeys are wild animals, and will act accordingly. For example, capuchins naturally “urine wash” – vigorously anointing themselves and their surroundings with their own urine. To them, this is a perfectly normal form of communication. But in a domestic setting, it’s not only smelly, it’s unhygienic! But a monkey will act like a monkey, like it or not.
Wild Futures operates a sanctuary for rescued ex-pet monkeys in Cornwall, UK and has first-hand experience of the suffering caused by the trade in primates as pets. Its Monkey Sanctuary rescues and rehabilitates monkeys in need, allowing them to socialise with their own kind in a safe home for life. The charity campaigns to see an end to the primate pet trade in the UK and abroad.
Rachel Hevesi, Director at Wild Futures, states: “Every monkey that has arrived at the Wild Futures Monkey Sanctuary has suffered either psychologically or physically and usually both. This suffering is inevitable in this cruel trade. I am sure that Joey Essex will realise this if he meets Joey capuchin. This could be an opportunity for Joey Essex to do a brilliant thing and highlight why the primate pet trade should end.”
Joey capuchin now lives with best friends Kodak and Kirsty. Primate keepers at the Sanctuary are astonished by his resilience and relish for life, now he is with other monkeys once more. Joey’s story is beautifully told by Stephen Fry in a short film he made with Wild Futures.
Let’s hope that Joey Essex takes up the invitation because the two Joeys can make a big right.
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