should people keep primates as pets?

[malcolm]

yaknow, i've never believed monkeys and primates of any nature should be kept as pets or a substitiute for a child. and the whole ordeal with travis the chimp mauling that woman a few months back kinda reinforced that belief in me personally but i dunno, what do you think?

[Raza]

I don't know nearly enough about the subject to hold an opinion on what people 'should' or 'shouldn't' do.

Generally speaking though, I think we could do without the status of something being 'kept as a pet'; ownership and role-implied dominance over other living creatures doesn't sit too well with me. I'd like to go with your 'substitute for a child' alternative, but that really isn't much of a difference.

[inox]

Cats and dogs have been bred over the years to live next to, and to perform various functions for, humans. I have no problem with them being pets so long as they are not mistreated.

However, chimps do not in any way fit into that category. They are basically like impossibly strong humans with severe retardation and a hair trigger temper. Virtually every chimp attack ends up with the chimp disfiguring the victim's face, usually by biting/chewing.

Primates show us the kind of creatures we once were, before further evolution (social and physiological) toned down some of the constant and casual brutality.

On a separate note, random people who keep wild animals are generally strictly liable for the damage they cause. Another reason it's a dumb move to own them.

[malcolm]

yeah they had a thing on it a while back about people who were keeping monkeys as surrogate children. it's horrible what they do to them. the pull out their canines and nails which they use to defend themselves, often times they feed them horrible diets of people food and candy which is bad for them being as their primary diet is fresh fruit,nuts,and bugs etc. a ton of the oens that do get rescued actually suffer form diabetes because of the food they're fed and unfortunately, none of em are able to go back to their natural environment either and yeah, it's not really a question on if they'll attack someone but when.

[Raza]

So why don't people keep bonobos? They're just as evolutionary close to humans as chimps, but a fuckload nicer.

[malcolm]

they're an endangered species. besides, if we were looking for relatively closeness to human being it makes ya wonder how a person would feel about being kept as a pet by someone else.

[Raza]

Endangered. Right. Wouldn't a commercial breeding program for domesticated bonobos help there though, even if it is otherwise despicable?

And I mentioned that, but roughly like a child, I imagine. It's far from without its equivalents even in modern intrahuman society.

[malcolm]

a commercial breeding program would help but......i still wouldnt wanna see them become some crazy old ladies "child" and be fed nothing but lollipops and fast food.

[Brigeyboo]

My grandparents had a monkey when they lived in panama for awhile...it flung poop.
so no..if something flings poop then i don't want it in my house.

[malcolm]

good point.

[DJ Bat]

Sure. Absolutely. As long as you're prepared to die by it's hands at some point or suffer some sort of other catastrophic incident, why not. You'll deserve it then. If it dies before you do by natural causes then congratulations, I hope it was worth it.

[Deadly Envy]

A humanoid shaped object size of a 8 years old with extremely long arms and legs and four sets of fists, long canine, claws, head and neck surrounded by set of muscles which make it not so vulnerable to head blow or being choked like a human are. Oh also they're extremely flexible.

Then add in extra energy and hair trigger temper of a toddler, ridiculously large amount of hormones, instinct to attack face and the genital first, intelligent enough to figure out how to open door, locks, etc... and use a weapon.

That sound dangerous enough, then add in strenght twice of Alexander Karelin (world's best Greco Rome wrestler who is 6'3, 280 lbs, very flexible, and so strong that he routinely throw guys over 300 lbs with ease which isnt common in heavy weight. He even once carried a very large refigrator up 8 stories of stairs by himself)

Yeah sound like a excellent pet! I will go out and buy one now and let it run around with the neighbor kids.

[inox]

That brings up an interesting point. I wonder if you could rear naked choke a chimp.

[Deadly Envy]

That brings up an interesting point. I wonder if you could rear naked choke a chimp.

Good luck trying that without getting your arm chewed to piece and shoulder dislocated.

Oh also if they did tear you apart, who know if they'll **** you as well.

[malcolm]

i feel pretty bad for the lady who got mauled.she's in a coma now and they're talking total face transplant. i hope personally they sue the pants off that crazy broad who owned him-and she IS crazy with a capital K!

[VoltaireBlue]

hell no. they're wild animals.

[Toe Cutter]

Seems like a bad idea.

[nathanmbailey]

As long as it's a dude willing to have his balls ripped off, yes.

Actually, wait I want one so I can train it to throw poop at certain people.

[Toe Cutter]

Monkeys are fucking assholes, and they can get away with it because they are monkeys.

Next time I go to the zoo, I'm going to point and laugh. Make them feel bad. After that I'm going to make sure they see me grabbing my nuts in a derogatory gesture. That will totally piss them off.

[SyntheticShock]

I'm a huge animal lover, but I would like to think that I have common sense and say, no, its not a smart move to keep any wild creature captive and try to make it into your child, feed it people food and dress it up.