An influencer is very upset after her pet spider monkey was confiscated by police, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Brandi Botello said 3-year-old “Jorgie Boy” was seized by Dallas police following a car accident over the weekend. And she is not taking it well.
“He’s my little boy. We do everything together,” Botello told the newspaper. “I can’t stop crying.”
The 29-year-old Irving woman said she dresses her monkey in pajamas, feeds him Tex-Mex, and sleeps next to him. She posted about her plight on (where else) Instagram, where her 42,000 followers rallied around the hashtag #FreeJorgieBoy.
Dallas police transferred him to another city, where it was confirmed he’d been relocated to a wildlife sanctuary — aka a place with no pajamas and actual monkey companions.
Botello, meanwhile, was taken to the hospital after the crash and told she’d been charged with DWI in the single-car crash, according to the report. She apparently insisted she wasn’t the one driving — and pointed out that Jorgie Boy was peacefully napping, blissfully unaware of any human drama.
In Texas, one can legally own an exotic animal with the proper documentation, but owning a “dangerous wild animal,” as defined by law, is typically prohibited. It’s not clear where spider monkeys fall on that spectrum but you can get an exception by submitting an application for a Certificate of Registration for Dangerous Wild Animals. And, outside of state and federal laws, ownership of wild animals in the city of Irving involves its own restrictions. Add to that: Texas Monthly reported last year that the spider monkey is one of the most profitable and popular animals trafficked today — and a lot of people are buying them on the black market after the monkeys were smuggled into the country illegally. It’s also not uncommon, even with the proper paperwork, for such monkeys to end up the subject of YouTube videos or other social media content.
Botello told the newspaper she didn’t know she needed any permits — unfortunately, that legal defense hasn’t historically proved very effective, but you never know. She told the Morning News that she got Jorgie Boy as a gift at just 2 months old, and the two have been inseparable ever since — sharing picnics, Cowboys games, and even dressing up together for Halloween.
It does genuinely suck that she lost her pet but also … maybe owning wild animals is legally thorny for a reason?
