Humane Society handles monkey business

Local staff member escorts capuchin monkey to Florida

By Jesse Ducker

Working in the Humane Society's Special Needs Department, Janet Alexander comes into contact with a lot of unusual things. The department takes care of cases involving exotic animals, so the recent Sunnyvale resident is well-versed on the colony of parrots making its home in the city, as well as the numerous stray iguanas that frequently wander the streets. So when a capuchin monkey turned up in San Jose, Alexander was in her element.

Rita, the monkey, first came to the Human Society after San Jose police caught her on the streets. Alexander says the San Jose police received a call of a monkey sightings, but dismissed it a possible drug-induced hallucination.

However, when they received another call for another monkey shortly afterward in the same area, they knew something was amiss.

Capuchins, or "organ-grinder" monkeys, are native to South and Central America. Alexander says a veterinarian in Mexico illegally sold Rita to her in owner, who in turn illegally brought her to San Jose. She eventually ran away from her owner's home.

"Most people aren't educated on how to take care of exotic species," she says. "They don't realize they need lots of things."

Alexander says the police traced Rita's origin back to Mexico and ended up tracking her due to a microchip that she had been implanted with. They eventually found her and took five hours to coax her into a cat trap. They then brought her to the Santa Clara County Humane Society.

When Rita arrived at the Human Society, she was in bad shape. Alexander says Rita had a respiratory infection, which she probably got during the five days she was on the street. She was showing signs of osteoporosis, which led them to believe she was an old monkey. However, once Rita's owner was tracked down, they found out the monkey was only 18 months old.

Alexander says the osteoporosis was probably due to the fact that Rita's owner was giving her a poor diet. Rita's owner claimed to be feeding her snails, fruits and vegetables. Alexander says monkeys do indeed enjoy fruits and vegetables, but monkey's also need to eat monkey chow, and special food mix sold in their non-native countries.

Alexander said Rita, while she recuperated at the Humane Society for 10 days, got over her infection and enjoyed a diet of fruits, vegetable, monkey chow and hard-boiled eggs, "which she absolutely loved," she said.

Alexander said she researched extensively for a home for Rita, and eventually found "Jungle Friends," a sanctuary in Gainesville, Fla., that specializes in capuchins. However, it was a challenge getting Rita to the sanctuary.

Alexander says that because of recent world events, it's much more difficult to send cargo on an airplane. She said the airlines require cargo to be sent only by "known shippers." Neither the Humane Society nor any local zoos fit that description.

However, Alexander says she discovered while she couldn't ship Rita independently, she herself could take the monkey on the plane as her pet. So the two of them flew to Florida "without a hitch."

Alexander says Rita now resides with 29 other capuchins at "Jungle Friends."

"She's with six other monkeys," she says. "Including three males that she loves dearly."

Alexander says she feels great about leaving Rita in the care of "Jungle Friends" and is confident she'll be well cared for amongst her fellow capuchins.

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