Darwin the IKEA Monkey
On
December 9, 2012, IKEA shoppers were surprised to find a monkey dressed up with
a diaper, wandering around. When the Animal control took over, Yasmin Nakhuda
claimed that the monkey (Darwin) was hers. The government would not let Nakhuda
keep her monkey because it’s against the law to own a monkey. Nakhuda would do
anything to get her monkey back.
Some
people think that Nakhuda should be able to keep Darwin. If taking the monkey
to an animal shelter is supposed to help him, then it’s not working. Darwin was
screaming and crying when he was being taken away. Why? That’s because Darwin
has already bonded with his owner, Nakhuda. Now, Darwin is probably locked away
in a foreign place, all lonely. Instead of helping him, they ruined the
monkey’s life. Imagine being a monkey that lived with a human for years.
Suddenly, a cage drops down and darkness fills the air. How would it feel to be
separated from a loved one? However, there is a law. “No Non-Human Primates
(Such as Gorillas and Monkeys)” The law also states “No Canids, except the
domestic dog” If a domestic dog is
so much different than a normal/wild dog, then a domestic money is no monkey.
What does the word ‘domestic’ mean?
Merriam-Webster:
any of various animals (as the horse or sheep) domesticated so as to live and
breed in a tame condition.
Cambridge
Dictionary: an animal that is not wild and kept as a pet or to produce food.
The
Free Dictionary: any of various animals that have been tamed and made fit for a
human environment.
Longman:
5. A domestic animal lives on a farm or in someone's home.
In most of those dictionaries, the word ‘tamed’, ‘not wild’, and
‘home’ pops out a lot. Darwin is a tamed animal and made fit for humans. He
doesn’t attack and lives with Nakhuda peacefully. Yasmin Nakhuda is like his mother
and a child should not be separated from its mother.
However, others are against Yasmin, and think that she shouldn’t
keep Darwin. It is illegal to do so, making Nakhuda against the law. The law
states that in order to own a monkey, there must be a license (as a vet, animal
control, etc.) Yasmin Nakhuda does not have a license of any sort. Also, scientists
said that monkeys are high social animals, and they need to stay with their
kind. Nakhuda was separating the poor monkey from his own kind. In order for
Nakhuda to keep Darwin, the government will have to change the law completely.
If that happens, everyone would go buying monkeys, pandas, gorillas, etc, that
will eventually create disorder in communities. Parks would turn into zoos and
monkeys will replace dogs. Then, they will show up in shelters—hundreds of them
being put to sleep each day. There will be backyard breeders breeding monkeys,
until monkeys aren’t monkeys anymore. All this comes from one act: letting
Nakhuda keep her monkey.
Yasmin Nakhuda should be able to keep Darwin. He is domesticated
and he probably misses his owner a lot. Maybe that’s why animals—like
monkeys—have an instinct to fear humans. Humans are so unpredictable and
sudden, how can animals trust humans? Animals have a mind and soul. Letting
Nakhuda keep Darwin is not just Nakhuda’s benefit, but also Darwin’s. If
monkeys need to be with their kind, Darwin thinks that Nakhuda is his kind.
Right now, he is being tormented silently, without anyone to reassure him. Is
this what shelters do? Lock poor animals away in a cage and then keep them away
from freedom? No. Things need to change. They need to change in a good way,
where everyone’s happy. If nothing happens, the government is stressed, Nakhuda
is heart-broken, and Darwin must be terrified! Nakhuda is leaving Canada, to a
place where she’s permitted to own a monkey. If the government intends to make
everyone in Canada leave to own a monkey, then leave everything as it is. Nakhuda
should get a license to keep Darwin, and the whole case would be dropped.
