Posted on 08/03/2004 9:16:05 PM PDT by freedom44
A disabled man's monkey bit a toddler in a Brooklyn supermarket, and the boy's furious family demands the chomping chimp be put in a zoo.
Two-year-old Thomas Romano and Darla, a 6-year-old macaque, were eyeballing each other from their respective shopping cart seats in the Key Food store on Avenue U in Mill Basin on Sunday when the monkey went bananas.
Darla's owner, Steven Seidler, insisted the primate was provoked, but Thomas' grandmother said the boy was minding his own business.
"I see something brown and furry on my grandson and I see this man punching this thing," said Helene Romano, who hadn't seen the animal before it pounced. "Then I look and see a long tail, and realize, 'Oh, my God, it's a monkey.'
"A monkey bites my grandson in Key Food. Who can think of such a thing happening?" Romano said yesterday.
Seidler said Darla was quiet, in her harness and on a leash, when the Romano cart passed.
"The kid grabbed the monkey and yanked her hair. I think the animal showed unbelievable self-control until the third rip, and then, in self-defense, the monkey gave it a bite," said Seidler, 44.
Romano said the monkey loosened its bite only after Seidler punched it in the head.
Thomas was treated for a left forearm wound at Maimonides Medical Center and released.
Police said Seidler had papers permitting him to have a service monkey, under the 1990 federal Americans With Disabilities Act, and that the animal has had all necessary shots. But Thomas' mom, Tabatha Romano of Flatlands, said Seidler's monkey belongs behind bars.
"I don't blame the animal, I blame the owner. How many other children are at risk of getting bitten?" she said.
Seidler, of Mill Basin, said he got the Java macaque from a licensed dealer more than five years ago after asthma, emphysema and poor circulation forced him to use a wheelchair for trips farther than a few feet.
Darla helps him with daily tasks such as opening cabinets and jars and picking up items he drops, Seidler said.
But some neighbors said they have seen Seidler doing chores in the yard and doubt the monkey is more than an exotic pet - which would make it illegal in the city. Seidler, an Orthodox Jew, dismissed such comments as anti-Semitic.
But advocates for the disabled said Darla is the wrong species for working with the disabled. And shopping, they said, is not monkey business.
"Service monkeys - real ones - are trained to help people in the home," said Judi Zazula, director of Helping Hands, a nonprofit organization that trains a monkey for seven years before teaming it with a paraplegic.
"Monkeys are not shoppers," Zazula said. "They don't have a role in a supermarket."
"But some neighbors said they have seen Seidler doing chores in the yard and doubt the monkey is more than an exotic pet - which would make it illegal in the city. Seidler, an Orthodox Jew, dismissed such comments as anti-Semitic. "
Yikes.
"They don't want me to have a monkey - they must HATE JEWS!!!!"
Spanking his monkey in public?
He should have spanked his monkey instead of punching it.
Chimp Chomps on Chumps Child ;-)
I'll bet the little brat annoyed the chimp.
A macaque monkey is not a chimp.
Seidler needs to bring his monkey around me...
When chimps are outlawed only outlaws will have chimps.
NYC: Maybe this will cheer you up!
mhk: Just damn?
So the headline should read...
Monkey Munches Moppet!
You're hired!!
Thanks, I think... ;)
Does your minkey bite?
Chimp bites boy?
Wat could be funnier?!
I'll bet the monkey saw the child as a rival due to his size. the kid stared at the monkey and, to the monkey, offered a challange. The monkey, as it were, goes ape-sh*t. No further telling is needed. Oh yeah, except that the monkey's owner is an idiot.
Boy bites chimp would be funnier, IMO.
Like the old "Armor Hot Dogs" commercial?
I don't know if I'd go quite that far...
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