UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Monkeys in pirate suits confiscated in La.

|
 
Published: March. 2, 2011 at 5:31 PM

NEW ORLEANS, March 2 (UPI) -- Louisiana wildlife officials confiscated four monkeys in pirate costumes from an autistic woman visiting New Orleans for Carnival.

Joan Newberger, 66, and her caretaker, James Poole, said they and the four monkeys were dressed as pirates on Bourbon Street during the weekend when police and wildlife agents approached them and seized the small primates, WWLT-TV, New Orleans, reported Wednesday.

Newberger said the seizure was illegal because the primates are registered as her "service monkeys" with a group in Texas. However, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said the monkeys do not meet the Americans with Disabilities Act's definition of service animals.

Possession of primates has been illegal in Louisiana since 2006.

Newberger is scheduled to appear in the Orleans Parish Municipal Court in July to attempt to get her monkeys back.

"This isn't some wild animal that we snatched out of the swamp in New Orleans and we're running around making money on it," Poole said.

Recommended Stories
© 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Additional Odd News Stories
Your Daily Horoscope
The almanac
1 of 18
Palestinian  Security Forces Patrol the Border With Egypt.
View Caption
A members of the Hamas security forces patrol the border area between Gaza and Egypt, in the southern Gaza Strip May 20, 2013. Egyptian police angered by the kidnapping of seven colleagues by Islamist gunmen kept a crossing into the Gaza Strip closed again for four days, stranding hundreds of Palestinian travellers, As Tunnels between Egypt and Gaza closed and border was declared as military zone. Palestinian security forces patrol around the border, witnesses said. UPI/Ismael Mohamad
fark
Oklahoma tornado thread #3. LGT live updates/streaming
██ ████ to know if ███ ██████████ ██ ███████...
A church gave out free $25 Chik-fil-A gift cards to straight married couples attending its "Day...
18' 8" Burmese python, about 10 pair of boots, caught on side of the road
Amazing: Matching all six Powerball numbers. Fark: On a ticket you bought too late
Photoshop Dr. Tobias Fünke, who is ready to be inserted anywhere