No Bananas for You; Law Would Make It Harder To Own A Pet Monkey

The House of Representatives passed an important piece of legislation during the week of June 16th by a vote of 302-96. It's called the Captive Primate Safety Act which is a move that would eventually outlaw people having pet monkeys.

This critical law would make monkey trafficking a federal crime. Now, monkeys would apply to the Lacey Act. What does the Lacey Act do? It makes it ''unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any live animal of any prohibited wildlife species.'' Each state is different when it comes to owning a pet monkey. You have to be licensed to own one and some states have breeding restrictions while others have complete bans. It doesn't affect many people. ''In 2005, the Humane Society of the United States estimated that there were approximateoly 15,000 pet primates in the U.S.'' It will cost $5 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to hire additional people to enforce the law.