Darwin's Day in Court

The case of Darwin (the monkey found wandering in the Ikea parking lot in his shearling coat) will be heard  today by a Superior Court Justice at court in Oshawa. His fate hangs in the balance - with his former owner, Yasmin Nahkuda fighting to have him returned and the Story Book Farm Sanctuary where he currently resides insisting he is best served by living with his own kind. The Toronto Sun reports that in a poll commissioned by Forum Research, 57% of those polled believe he should remain at Story Book Farm Sanctuary where TAS placed him after he was removed from his owner.

The debate over where Darwin belongs has been lively, acrimonious and filled with accusations, derision and rage from both sides of the divide.  CTV News reports that the issue has engendered cries of slander and defamation on both sides, while a cursory glance at the Daring Darwin Monkey facebook page clearly shows that the issue of where primates (and indeed, other exotic animals) belong is fractured and subject to emotional excess.

It is no secret that I am disgusted at the "humanization" of Darwin.  The saccharine videos of Darwin's early months (you know, when he was an infant and taken from his real mother - the cost of his mother's pain and his own descent into being a toy for a woman with no understanding or common sense) on the Darling Darwin Monkey facebook page clearly illustrate the paternalistic, selfish and twisted (in my opinion) views of people who refuse to accept that certain animals are simply not meant to be kept as pets.

Seeing him dressed in clothes, performing unnatural acts and being treated as an animate toy leaves me sickened and sad.  Primates are incredibly intelligent.  They have intricate, clearly defined social lives, are articulate, curious and are psychologically sophisticated.  Those behaviours are clearly not conducive to a comfortable partnership with human beings - particularly as the monkeys get older and aggression becomes more of an issue.  According to the U.S. based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention:

... macaque monkeys are prone to carrying harmful viruses and were found in studies to be aggressive toward humans, particularly children. For these reasons, the CDC deemed macaque monkeys "unsuitable" as pets.

On a page which Google found - Pet Monkey Testimonials - there are some pretty damning incidents of how monkeys often turn on their owners as they get older and their natural behaviour (already psychologically damaged by the lack of a natural environment) asserts itself.  I found it particularly striking the number of individuals who commented on how they had brought the monkey up like a "baby" and were shocked and appalled when the creature turned on them as it aged.  This is reflective of many of Yasmin's comments wherein she refers to herself as the "Monkey Mom" and to Darwin repeatedly as her "baby".

I'm not a big fan of anthropomorphism of animals.  After many years exploring the best methods of interacting with and training dogs, I was lucky enough to find a trainer whose cardinal rule is LET THE DOG BE A DOG.  After years of struggling with deep seated issues in my dogs engendered by abuse  (they were rescues), I FINALLY learned how to let them be THEM and over time, saw immediate benefits and much happier dogs.  The anthropomorphism of Darwin is even more distressing as monkeys are far more sophisticated, intricate and intelligent  creatures.  Denied a chance to develop normally, Darwin was, in my opinion, being abused by being forced into an unnatural role as a "monkey baby".

Clearly, the best place for Darwin WOULD have been with his own mother and living in a large social group (the natural state of these type of monkeys); however, that is no longer an option due to the immoral actions first of the breeder who ripped him from his mother's arms when he was literally days old (and studies have shown that the mothers go into a depression and mourn the loss of their baby - PLUS they are bred again- up to 10 x more than their natural state), then exacerbated by Yasmin buying him and then playing house and "mommy" with him.

Is Story Book Farm ideal? Of course not. But given that time can't be reversed, it is the only humane and moral place for Darwin to stay. He needs to be exposed and learn from his own kind - he deserves the chance to at least try to acquire and internalize "normal" monkey behaviour. What he does not deserve is to be returned to an individual who while claiming to "love" him, instead uses him to satisfy some twisted desire of her own.

Dog-Bite Related Stats from 1964 to Present

Click on the picture to make more readable .... umm, notice there are no "pitties" (as labelled (incorrectly) by the McGuinty Fibs?

Toronto the Cruel

Once upon a time in a City which tiresomely refers to itself ad naseum as “world-class” there are various organizations which purport to care about the animals of this City.

We LOVE animals, said the City-mandated Toronto Animal Services passionately.  Yet they continue to slaughter many, many  dogs that look a bit like the mythical pit bulls – you know the ones with locking jaws, a slavering and overwhelming desire to rend and tear, the ones who “turn on you in an instance”.  Not, of course, the ones most of us are familiar with .. you know the “dogs”- regular dogs with regular personalities, with regular positives and negatives based on their life experience, training and personalities.  Of course, “their” kind of dogs and “our” kind of dogs look pretty much identical but apparently the all-seeing, all-knowing provincial government with their breed-specific legislation based on nothing more than media frenzy and innuendo knew MUCH better. The McSquinty Liberals (yes, the same wonderful organization that also brought you the death of democracy by cunningly removing the right to collective bargaining) KNEW that dogs with blocky heads and short coats were ALL MURDERING SWINE.  And while i know some of the mythical "pit bulls" do escape to rescue organizations and out-of-province shelters with a more balanced viewpoint, I would bet money that far more end up DEAD based only - and entirely - on their appearance.

Having said that, TAS  does do a lot of good things – and has improved tremendously over the past 20 years in terms of promoting a healthy environment, accepting a variety of domestic animals and even working hard to establish positive relationships with rescues and other animal-centric organizations.  I personally know  some amazingly awesome people within the employ of TAS who go above and beyond.  Bottom  line, however, is their mandate is animal control- not animal shelter and in that context, are limited in what they CAN do (as opposed to what I know many WANT to do).

And due to the amount of funding, limited officers and staff, there just is NOT enough attention being paid to situations where animals are being possibly abused or neglected. The deer struck last year and left to die in agony is a case in point ... WHERE WERE THE ANIMAL ORGANIZATIONS? That animal suffered fear, pain and trauma and lay there, helpless, dying and NO ONE came to help. In fact the organizations purporting to be responsible, stood by and watched... and I sure didn't see THS there either - after all - even if the  THS  were not allowed to "treat" the animal, I find it HIGHLY unlikely that anyone would have objected to a vet from either organization at least giving the poor creature a pain killer.

And then there are poor animals like this guy, who is living a monstrous, desperate and cruel existence at the end of a chain:

Meet King - that's him in front of the left hand garage door

That's his "doghouse" squished between the buildings

He's a beautiful boy

 Apparently, because he has a "house" it's ok to leave him out 24/7 - in every type of weather - like the frigid temperatures we are experiencing right NOW.  The fact that there is not a chance in HELL that his water will be anything but frozen ... that no one has checked to ensure that his doghouse MEETS CITY STANDARDS is irrelevant...

 (paragraphs from Toronto Animal Services- Enforcement and Mobile Response.

§ 349-5. Responsibility to care for animals.

Every person who keeps an animal within the City's boundaries shall provide the animal

or cause it to be provided with adequate and appropriate care, food, water, shelter,

exercise, attention and veterinary care as may be required to meet the need of the species.

§ 349-6. Enclosures for animals kept out of doors.

If an animal is customarily kept out of doors, the person having the custody or control of

the animal shall provide for its use at all times a structurally sufficient, weather-proofed

and insulated enclosure of appropriate size and dimension.

349-7. Tethers.

A. No person shall keep any animal in the City tethered on a chain, rope or similar

restraining device of less than three metres in length.
B. Every person who has tethered an animal shall ensure, at all times, that the animal
has unrestricted movement within the range of the tether, and that the animal cannot

suffer injury resulting from the tethering.

So I don't know if the doghouse is insulated and weather proofed, nor do I know if King's chain which was attached to him when he was 3 months old and has not been off since is an "acceptable length".  Because frankly, no one seems to give fuck (believe me, both myself and others have tried).

But what about the "other" organization - the one that has garnered so much controversy and press and notoriety in the past few years you ask?

Well, they can't do a damn thing about King because they continue to assert that their powers to investigate has not been returned to them. Not sure exactly why it is taking so damn long - could be that the OSPCA (who I believe gives them the go-ahead but I keep being told contradictory reasons - i.e. is it the OSPCA, OR it is the City who appoint only TAS - illumination anyone?) is reluctant in view of their own complete and utter clusterfuck when first "investigating" (i.e. raiding and slaughtering hundreds of animals)- or maybe because the OSPCA actually prefers to spend its money on costly weekends at Casino Rama or the building of a HUGE facility in Newmarket with empty cages.. who knows.  All I know is that the "new" THS has been up and running for a couple of years now and STILL doesn't have the authority  (or in my view, seemingly, the intent) to investigate animal cruelty charges. Why???  Every time I've asked, I've been told it's going to happen - but hey, here we are and they STILL can't.

Further, while the Shelter was obscenely and unhealthily over-crowded during Tim's reign, now it is like a ghost town ... I believe there are currently between 20-24 dogs there in a place that could easily accommodate twice to three times that many.

Toronto is amazingly fortunate in that it actually has very few "strays".  As a result, both TAS and THS often pull animals (well, dogs only I think) from all over the place as Toronto (due to its population) is a great market for potential adopters.  As someone who 'transports', I've brought dogs from Quebec, from other Ontario shelters etc to both TAS and THS and those dogs have ALL found wonderful homes, usually in a very short period of time.  The Toronto Humane Society even took in five Thai dogs that were in desperate straits and kudos to them for that..

But many shelters right here in Ontario and also in Quebec (chronically there) are over-crowded, desperate for help, desperate to find placements for their over-crowded environs - so why aren't both organizations being more pro-active?  Hell, talking to the people at the Montreal SPCA, things are ALWAYS in a desperate situation there!  I also know that the Quinte Humane Society, a few short hours away, is chronically under-funded (and does a great job despite this)- but often are also very crowded.  Durham Humane which probably does (in my opinion) one of the BEST jobs in terms of compassion, knowledge and caring, often is bursting at the seams.

Oh and yeah - about those strays - THS says they can't accept strays (that TAS is the only "legal" entity allowed to do so)... so strays picked up or turned in are daily sent to Toronto Animal Services - who (to my knowledge) are more than happy to send them back but oddly, unless someone agitates from the THS (which seldom happens) and if those 'strays' happen to be 'illegal' 'pit bull types'  (i.e not grandfathered with paperwork under the BSL), then if TAS can't find them a placement outside the province, well, they're DEAD..

Clearly, I don't have ingress to all the ins and the outs, the politics, the back rooms and the meetings; all I've got is eyes and ears and an overwhelming belief that the animals of Toronto really do deserve a better deal than they're getting now.  The fact is there are some amazing people working (and volunteering) for both TAS and THS - caring, compassionate people with vision and the will to do better.  But somewhere along the road, those people aren't being heard. Somewhere, somehow, the animals of Toronto are being denied what the mandates promise them - safe haven...

Meanwhile... King freezes at the end of a chain.