Animal rights campaigners say the 'Never Say Never' singer sets a bad example to fans by keeping the exotic animal as a pet.
- Apr 4, 2013
AceShowbiz - Animal right activists from The Humane Society of the United States were the latest ones who slammed Justin Bieber. The animal protection organization labeled the 19-year-old singer "irresponsible" and "out of control" after his capuchin monkey, Mally, was detained in Germany because he couldn't provide proper paperwork.
"People want to emulate celebrities they admire. When somebody like Justin Bieber is irresponsible and goes out and gets a pet monkey, he sets a very bad example... He seems to be a little bit out of control," Debby Leathy, the spokesperson from The Humane Society, told National Geographic.
Leathy said that Capuchin monkeys were too wild to be kept as pets. Leathy explained, "No primate species should ever be kept as a pet. They have very special needs. These are highly social animals. They need to be kept with others of their own kind; that's just critical to their psychological well-being."
Having a Capuchin monkey as a pet could also be dangerous, according to Leathy. "All primate species can become aggressive," she added. "A lot of times when the primate reaches sexual maturity, it becomes extremely aggressive, unpredictable -bouncing off the walls in the house, destroying everything. It ends up being confined for the rest of its life in a little cage in the basement, or [the owner] looks to dump it."
Mally remains being quarantined in Germany and Bieber hasn't claimed his pet yet. Officials said that the Canadian singer had four weeks to pick up the primate and he could face a fine of more than $16,000 for allegedly breaking Germany's import laws.
