Monkey Bites

..and gets more press than punishment. I read in two newspapers today that a monkey bit a small child in a Brooklyn supermarket. The monkey was the property of a disabled man who used the monkey for a hand around the house. Through it is illegal to have a monkey in the city, monkeys that sort your medicine are ok. What made me really angry is the NY Post and Daily News referred to the monkey by named, thus humanizing it and making me feel bad for the monkey. I wouldn't want to be pent up with this guy and his dog all day while there is a jungle out there waiting for me. I definately wouldn't want to be named Darla. Poor Monkey!

Another point of concern is that one of the article gave doubts as to whether the man was disabled. I looked up the exact ailment, which was not in either newspaper to find that Steven Seidler, the owner of the monkey, suffers from emphysema and poor circulation and uses a wheelchair to get around. How does emphysema qualify as a disability? A disease yes, one usually caused by years of decades of smoking. When I think of a person suffering from a disability, there is usually an accident or a birth defect involved. How this man and his monkey were not punished more severely bewilders me. But then again, I'm not at risk of being attacked by it. I feel nothing but sympathy for the boy who was attacked and concern for children in the future. It is exciting to see monkeys. A child has less restrain for excitement and curiosity. So regardless of whether of not this child provoced this close cousin to man is unimportant. A "disabled" man should have to restrain his monkey, if even allowed to have one at all.