Judge: IKEA Monkey Darwin Must Stay at Animal Sanctuary, Will Not Return to Owner (VIDEO, PHOTO)
A judge has ruled that the IKEA monkey, known as Darwin, will not longer be able to go shopping at the popular superstores, but instead will remain at an animal sanctuary.
The ruling from the Ontario judge stated that the primate is not a pet, despite having a close connection with the Canadian woman, who has been known to call Darwin her son.
Darwin, a Japanese macaque dressed in a heavy shearling coat, became a viral sensation on the Internet last year when he escaped from a locked crate in owner Yasmin Nakhuda's car in Toronto.
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The monkey quickly darted his way through parked cars and went into a nearby IKEA superstore, causing a scene.
Staff in the store managed to corner him, and animal control officers later attended to take the "IKEA monkey" away.
Since Darwin was taken into the custody, the owner has been fighting a long legal battle to try and regain control over the monkey. However, her attempts have not been successful, and the latest ruling will have come as a big blow to her.
On Friday, Ontario Superior Court Judge Mary Vallee dismissed a suit brought by Nakhuda against Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, where Darwin has lived since the end of last year.
The plaintiff attempted to highlighted the problem of inconsistent regulation from jurisdiction to jurisdiction surrounding exotic animals as pets, according to the Globe and Mail.
The lawsuit highlighted that owning a pet monkey is illegal in Toronto, though in Darwin's case animal services were unclear about its authority to enforce this law.
The judge contemplated what animals should be considered as "wild," and reinforcing that if a wild animal escaped then a person's ownership is no longer valid.
The decision pointed out: "Wild animals, particularly exotic ones, can be dangerous to the public."
