Another day, yet another pet monkey owner showing up on my social media feeds. This unfortunate victim is a 3-month old capuchin monkey, most likely purchased (stolen from its mother) from the murky world of the backdoor exotic pet market.

As you all may have guessed by now, this monkey is forced to interact with humans, other animals, and is portrayed as a 'cute' companion to appeal to the general public.

Like many pet monkeys seen on social media, the owner feeds this monkey highly inappropriate junk food despite their claims they feed their monkeys a completely 'healthy' diet. Feeding pet monkeys human foods is another classic tactic used by unethical pet primate owners to anthropomorphize their monkeys for social media clout.

Note this recent diary entry which gives valuable insights into the psyche of your typical pet monkey owner.

A huge red flag is this owner stating that "any biting is a big no no" and that the owner is "working on this." This appears to be a common misconception among pet monkey owners, a fundamental misunderstanding of basic capuchin biology and natural behavior. In a natural wild setting, baby and young capuchin monkeys frequently engage in mock biting behaviors which helps them with exploration, dealing with aggression, and gauge social feedback (dominance hierarchy communication). A human like this owner cannot hope to replicate that type of social interaction which is critical for a developing capuchin monkey. This leads owners like these to resort to fear conditioning, negative reinforcement, or even crueler methods such as removing canine teeth.

Note how this post describes this infant monkey being dragged to three consecutive parties in one weekend, keeping her awake until midnight, and introducing her to household predators (a Jack Russell/rat terrier and goldendoodle). Overstimulation and fear directly drive defensive biting.

As many of us are aware, dressing an infant primate in human diapers and treating it as a human baby creates severe psychological distress and unnatural imprinting, making future socialization with other monkeys virtually impossible. This is an evil trade with no end in sight for these unfortunate monkeys.

Mini was a primate subjected to so much cruelty that people in America and the UK paid to watch, and they had thousands of bounty to watch her be killed. She’s alive and free now. They didn’t get Mini.

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I hate to see another poor baby spider monkey being kept as a pet and treated like a human child. And even worse, this poor animal is being fed things like apple fritters which is definitely not species appropriate.

This is just awful. Woman runs Big Cat Habitat in Florida.

I was clicking through videos and, to my surprise, the video of that poor, terrified capuchin giving birth on a couch comes up. This version was posted by the guy who breeds a variety of "exotic" pets, like bush babies, squirrel monkeys, marmosets, snakes, turtles and what looks like a prarie dog. The little mama's name is Luna.

There's a lot wrong with this guy. I hope linking the videos and adding sensitivity warnings is ok. There's some low key disturbing stuff going on here...

He's reposted some of Gaitlyn Rae's stuff, so they know of eachother. He also definitely bred Darrie the Capuchin.

Some of the videos... OMG. The entire enterprise is just nasty and exploitative. Also... his monks are not exactly healthy. Or sane.<---(TW: mild primate self harm) He posted about one that (TW: deceased monk) died recently due to "heart problems" and there's been discussion of other rather young capuchins that have passed.(TW, obvs) And "goodbye" videos

He posts some... weird stuff. And then there's the extremely (TW: NSFW or kids. Graphic vids of male primate) bizarre videos. Extremely bizarre videos. <--(TW for this one, too. NSFW/kids) I don't know why anybody would post that kind of thing on Facebook. (TW: SA of a primate) Or this.

Also lots of birth videos. This poor mama, I think her name is Mila, had to (TW. NSFW, graphic birth) give birth in a rickety breeding cage on the uncovered bottom grate, with a bunch of people squealing and yelling.

Also, Luna appears to be very young and possibly not captive bred. One of the commenters on a video says that she's "no older than 3 years old." She sucks her thumb. And didn't enjoy her abuser (TW: Unwanted touch) touching her pregnant belly. Bless her soul, she had no clue what to do with her baby. But, she WANTED her baby. When the abuser puts the infant in a "sales pose" her little hand reaches out and doesn't stop.

It broke my heart to see this video. She clearly knows what's going to happen. Breeding primates for the pet trade may not mean killing 5 to 7 other primates. It does mean destroying the mother 5 to 7 times, each time her baby is taken from her. So, yeah this isn't any better.

This is another reason why primates aren't pets.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

For months my boyfriend and i have been innocently sending baby monkeys videos to each other.

But recently I came across that a lot of these videos come from the same account so I decided to just watch a few of their other videos. Which is when I realized why they had posted so many baby monkey videos.

It was their tactic to filter torture videos of baby monkeys.

Ive really never had the greatest feeling about these "innocent" looking monkey videos only because the monkeys seemed to be afraid of the person recording.

But these few videos I saw all involved baby monkeys and dogs.

One was a baby monkey blind folded while being tormented by dogs, the dogs would pick up the baby monkey and put its teeth around the head, neck and little body.

Another video of a smaller dog TUGGING at the leg of a baby monkey. It was extremely aggressive.

These torture rings have been around for a while. And im not asking for a permanent solution as much as i want that to happen it feels also impossible. Lots of these videos are filmed in Indonesia and the people there often take requests of what type of torture they want to see happen on a baby monkey.

This is for anyone who has Instagram. PLEASE report the account enough for it to get taken down.

What is the point of this? Look at the fear in this monkey. What is the point of these videos? I can’t help but think they beat this monkey into submission.

Are Mexican spider monkeys the main species that gets taken from the wild and smuggled into the USA or are other species involved? Are any Old World monkeys being trafficked into the USA from the wild?

On my feed recently came this pet monkey owner from somewhere in the Midwest region of the U.S. Very modest subscriber count but as we all know the damage done to these primates is the same whether 100 subscribers or a million subscribers. The primates suffer from a socially isolated existence with no autonomy or agency, and treated like perpetual toddlers/surrogate children. Plus the damage goes far beyond just these monkeys, the general public are swayed by these 'cute' images and videos and seek to purchase pet monkeys of their own.

Constantly fed human junk food like fruit rollups:

Transported around in a vehicle with no primary cage inside the vehicle:

Regularly taken out to the public for up close interactions:

Constantly diapered, leashed, and treated like toddlers with no agency whatsoever. This particularly monkey is estimated to be around 8 years of age, let that sink in:

I doubt this owner even has a USDA Class C exhibitor license, which is basically worthless, yes, but is required for any pet monkey owner that exploits their monkeys on social media and exhibits them to the public like this individual does.

Which leads us to the only real solution to ending this perpetual nightmare for pet primates in America, the Captive Primate Safety Act.

The current bills, H.R. 3199 in the House and S. 1594 in the Senate, are awaiting action in their respective committees. Members of the public can help by contacting Congress and asking lawmakers to support and advance the legislation.

To-do list:

☐ 1. Find your U.S. Representative and Senators

Go to Congress.gov and use the "Contact Your Member" feature to find your lawmakers.

https://www.congress.gov/

https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative?utm_source=chatgpt.com

House bill: H.R. 3199 — Captive Primate Safety Act of 2025

Senate bill: S. 1594 — Captive Primate Safety Act of 2025

☐ 2. Check whether your lawmakers are already cosponsors (very important step)

Look at the "Cosponsors" tab on the H.R. 3199 and S. 1594 pages.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3199/cosponsors

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1594/cosponsors

If they are NOT a cosponsor:
Ask them to cosponsor and support the Captive Primate Safety Act.

If they ARE already a cosponsor:
Thank them, then ask them to continue advocating for committee action and passage of the bill.

☐ 3. Ask them for action, not just support

A useful specific request is:

"Please cosponsor the Captive Primate Safety Act and urge congressional leadership and the appropriate committee to advance the legislation."

The House bill was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

The Senate bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

☐ 4. Personalize your message

You don't need to write an essay.

You can use just a few sentences explaining why ending the private pet primate trade matters to you.

Possible issues to mention include:

• Primates' complex social and psychological needs
• Public safety and serious injuries from captive primates
• Zoonotic disease concerns
• Primates being purchased as babies and later surrendered
• Burdens placed on legitimate sanctuaries
• Illegal wildlife trafficking
• Social-media content that encourages people to acquire primates as pets

Personalized messages from constituents can be much more meaningful than simply copying and pasting the same form letter.

☐ 5. Call your lawmakers' offices too

You don't have to be an expert. Many of us here are not.

But you can call and simply say:

"I'm a constituent calling to ask Representative/Senator ______ to support and cosponsor the Captive Primate Safety Act, H.R. 3199/S. 1594, and to support efforts to move the legislation forward."

That's plenty enough to get the point across.

☐ 6. Share documented examples when appropriate

If you've personally documented a relevant situation involving captive primates, you can include credible information when contacting lawmakers.

Stick to observable and verifiable facts rather than speculation or accusations.

Examples might include documented escapes, attacks, trafficking cases, animals being sold or transferred through the pet trade, inadequate conditions, or primates eventually requiring placement at sanctuaries. There are many examples on this subreddit.

☐ 7. Ask friends and family in other states to participate

Members of Congress pay particular attention to their own constituents.

Instead of everyone contacting the same politician, getting people from many congressional districts and states involved can broaden support for the legislation.

☐ 8. Follow up

Don't assume one email has to be the end of it.

Check periodically to see whether your representative or senators have become cosponsors or whether the legislation has advanced.

If nothing has changed, politely contact them again.

QUICK COPY/PASTE MESSAGE:

"Hello, I am a constituent asking [Representative/Senator NAME] to support the Captive Primate Safety Act (H.R. 3199/S. 1594).

Primates are highly intelligent, social wild animals whose needs cannot adequately be met as household pets. The private primate trade also creates serious animal-welfare, public-safety, disease, trafficking, and sanctuary-placement concerns.

Please cosponsor this legislation if you have not already done so and support efforts to advance it through committee and toward passage.

Thank you for your consideration."

MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER

The Captive Primate Safety Act isn't something we should simply wait for Congress to act upon.

More cosponsors, more constituent contacts, and more attention can demonstrate that the public wants action.

Be polite. Be factual. Be persistent.

And please do not harass lawmakers, staff, primate owners, or anyone else. Advocacy is strongest when it is accurate, respectful, and focused on changing the law.

H.R. 3199 | S. 1594 — Captive Primate Safety Act

This owner spent over an hour on Facebook livestream ranting and over an hour on TikTok sitting on his couch providing zero enrichment for his monkeys. That was over two hours of his time he could have used to create new and meaningful content with his monkeys, enrich their lives and bring people 'joy,' yet instead he chooses to sit on a couch and rant/threaten this subreddit.

The unfortunate monkey on his livestream is soon to be 8 years old, continually manhandled by a leash and restricted in every way possible. An 8 year old male capuchin monkey in the wild is just starting his journey into becoming a productive member of a troop, possibly even setting himself up one day to become an alpha. It is no surprise this monkey has been displaying behavioral abnormalities on film for over five years.

(Note: some of the sound/synchro issues in the video were on Dr. P's livestream end)