A tribute to Joey
It is with deep sadness we have to inform you that Joey, the wonderful, heroic rescued capuchin, has passed away after nearly 13 years living at The Monkey Sanctuary.
Joey was a capuchin monkey born in the wild in Suriname, South America. At just 3 months old, he was caught and brought to the UK to be kept in a flat in London as someone’s pet. Already Joey had suffered more than any monkey should. His mother would have most likely been killed in front of him, he was forced from his home, his natural habitat, to be kept as someone’s possession.
Despite the unimaginable psychological trauma that he had already faced in his short life, Joey arrived to the UK as monkey with ‘normal’ physical health and abilities. As a pet he was kept in a cage not much larger than your average wardrobe, with nothing to do. He had a blanket, a cuddly toy, and at times the TV turned on. Deprived of the company of his own kind, a lack of space to move around, a completely unnatural environment, no access to natural sunlight, and an inappropriate diet, Joey developed severe metabolic bone disease, hip dysplasia, a fused spine and dental abnormalities.
This was Joey’s life for 9 years.
Every law put in place to protect non-human primates failed Joey. CITES laws failed to protect him. Despite government advice that state primates cannot be taken from the wild and imported into the UK for personal use (the pet trade), that is exactly what happened with Joey. In fact his CITES permits stated quite blatantly that he was imported for ‘Personal use’ and that he was ‘Rescued from the wild’.
The Dangerous Wild Animals Act failed to protect him. Camden Council issued a licence to Joey’s owner; the licence was to be renewed every year and required an annual vet inspection. Joey’s licence was never renewed after that first year, and no inspections ever took place.
After nine long years, Joey’s owner fled the country due to unrelated criminal activities and Joey was left completely alone with only the neighbour popping in to check him and feed him.
This neighbour became concerned for Joey’s welfare and contacted the RSPCA which lead to us rescuing him and bringing him to the Wild Futures’ Sanctuary. On arrival, Joey was scarcely strong enough to eat or lift his limbs. He had an open sore at the base of his spine due to his repetitive rocking, a sign of severe psychological damage. He also showed other abnormal stereotypical behaviours of self-grasping and mesh-biting. After his initial check up with the vet, and in view of the severe physical and psychological trauma that he had suffered, we were very concerned about whether we could give him the quality of life worth living.
For his first two days Joey did not want to leave the box that he travelled in for his rescue, which we had placed in an indoor room. He didn’t want to eat and spent his time continually rocking. We were extremely concerned, but slowly he started to become responsive to the sounds of the other monkeys. He stopped rocking and listened briefly when they called to each other. On the third day he was coaxed outside for the first time, and his world changed! He started responding to the other monkeys, he explored his outside enclosure, he started eating properly and the time spent rocking diminished a lot when he was busy, and gradually when he was resting.
We had put ramps up for him so that he could explore safely. He was easily exhausted but enthusiastic about everything around him. He had very pale skin because he had not been outside for so many years and he soon got sun burnt in the September sunshine. Charlie Brown was one of the first monkeys who Joey met once his ‘quarantine’ period was over and Charlie really helped Joey develop and supported him whenever he needed help and guidance. Taking time out from his own group was not always helpful to Charlie over a long period of time, so the arrival of Kodak to the sanctuary was good news for Joey. As they got to know one another, they helped each other gain the confidence needed to live in a social group and a solid friendship grew between them that lasted many years.
Joey was a fun-loving, ambitious and an extremely intelligent monkey who did not let his past hold him back. He loved being around other monkeys – meeting new ones or just hanging out with old friends. He had the friendliest greeting for those he cared for (which was everyone) – a big open mouth and very loud joyful scream as he could not contain his excitement. It is a real show of his strength and resilience that despite everything that Joey had gone through, which was caused by humans, his friendship and trust in those that cared for him was always there.
We watched him over the years push himself through every challenge, exceeding all expectations, from learning how to walk and move around on ropes for the first time, to building and maintaining bonds with other monkeys. All the things he had been denied for so many years. He relished every moment from the sunshine on his face as he napped with his friends, being groomed in a warm bunk under a blanket, exploring the trees with the open sky above him, to accomplishing a new route around his enclosures. His physical disabilities meant that he might not have been able to do everything in the same way as others, but he didn’t let that hinder him. That spirit and determination was unstoppable and captured the hearts of everyone around him.
Sadly his past caught up with him and despite our best efforts and his determination, his body could not cope anymore. Eventually the damage to Joey’s spine, caused by the deprivations of his former life as a pet, led to him suffering chronic pain and despite all the pain relief we could give him, it wasn’t enough to enable him to live the life he deserved.
It was a great honour and a delight to know Joey – watching his journey over the years, seeing his spirit and determination shine through, and getting to know all of his little quirks. Joey was kind, strong, friendly, independent, mischievous, motivated, perceptive, compassionate, inspiring and never one to be underestimated.
Joey was truly a unique character, one that showed strength and resilience over and over again and he inspired so many monkeys and humans. In 2014 Joey won a special award in the RSPCA and Daily Mirror’s Animal Hero Awards for his bravery through adversity and helping other traumatised, rescued monkeys recover from neglect. A worthy winner in our eyes! To withstand the trauma that he was subjected to and to be able to live happily at the Monkey Sanctuary for nearly 13 years is remarkable. We are so grateful that we had that time with him and honoured that we could give him the opportunity to have some idea of what his life should have been like.
Joey should never have been here. He should have remained in the forests of South America living a natural life in the wild. Instead he was forcibly taken from everything that is natural to him and flown to the UK to live as a pet. Because of this he suffered with long standing psychological trauma as well as severe physical disabilities, which ultimately ended his life far too soon. We are the voice for Joey and all primates found in this cruel trade. We will continue to fight to end the UK primate pet trade, in Joey’s memory and for all of the primates who have fallen victim to it. We hope that Joey’s legacy will be an end to this trade and to finally see laws changed to protect these animals against unnatural lives as people’s pets.
Joey will remain forever in our hearts, and will be in our thoughts now and forever. Please donate today, in memory of Joey, to help us continue our work to end the UK primate pet trade, www.wildfutures.org/donate.
To our dearest Joey, you will be sorely missed by us all. Thank you for everything you gave to us, for being a truly remarkable monkey who taught us all to be strong and resilient. You will continue to be our driving force to make change for the better.
Joey 1998-2020