The People vs. IKEA Monkey

The little monkey wearing a shearling coat that showed up at a Toronto IKEA last week is now a case for the courts. Toronto Animal Services lodged the monkey named Darwin at the Story Brook Farm Primate Sanctuary. Yasmin Nakhuda, who owns the monkey, wants him back.

…defendant Nakhuda, a real estate attorney by profession, filed a claim Thursday that states the authorities had no right to take the monkey. “The officer’s refusal to return Darwin was unlawful because the Code does not authorize the officer to keep an animal other than dogs and cats,” it reads. “The only penalty under the Code is a fine. Animal Services therefore unlawfully detained Darwin.”

The motion also states that, if Darwin cannot be returned, Nakhuda should be allowed “reasonable access on a schedule to be fixed by this court.”

Meanwhile, Story Book Farm seems to have undertaken a PR campaign in its efforts to keep Darwin. Read all about it at Death and Taxes, in a post that includes its own soundtrack. Link

(Image credit: Lisa Lin via Instagram)