In the ongoing worldwide revolt of non-human captive primates, a circus monkey in central Florida made an escape into the woods after his captor forgot to attach a leash.
Today, workers at the Liebling Family Circus are attempting to lure Reggie the spider monkey out of the forest by waiting at the edge of the forest with his 20-year mate, Priscilla. But PETA, who had a representative at the circus when the monkey escaped, says the circus mistreats its animals and perhaps he’d be better off trying to survive in the wild.
PETA’s own factsheet on the circus seems to support their claim, with dozens of USDA violations over the past couple years listed. In fact, on the same night as the monkey’s escape, the circus had to pull their elephant from the show because they had not renewed necessary permits.
According to circus owner Tom Liebling, after Reggie escaped he began to return back towards the circus, but “the PETA lady” actually chased him away. But “the PETA lady” Jamey Binneveld says the monkey escaped after she heard a horrible shreaking sound and made no mention of any involvement.
Photo Credit: frobo512 on Flickr under Creative Commons license. Via: WESH
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Alex Felsinger
Alex is primarily concerned with animal welfare, wildlife conservation, and environmental justice. As a freelance writer in San Francisco, he leads a deliberately simplistic and thrifty lifestyle, yet still can’t help gawking at the newest green gadgets and zero-emission concept cars.
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