Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary continues to be under fire from neighbors who are uncomfortable with the idea of monkeys being housed and rehabilitated on the Ellicott City property. Neighbors have collected about 100 signatures in an attempt to rid the facility of the monkeys. The neighbors are concerned that the monkeys may carry diseases and therefore present human health risks. Fears such as this appear to be realistic in light of movies like Outbreak that sensationalize the rapid spread of deadly diseases that originate with monkeys, but my unscientific opinion is that these fears are unfounded. That question is for the wildlife experts to decide, but I have seen the outside of the facility, and it is a fortress. Sturdy, permanent cages which can be seen through the barred windows of the home contain the monkeys. Video cameras survey the outside of the property. This place is not “Joe Schmoe’s Monkey Farm”, it is a secure facility that has more in common with a maximum security prison than a home.
Frisky’s has been operating with permits, but not the specific permit required to handle monkeys. The same zoning laws that make sustainable neighborhoods illegal also restrict the rehabilitation of certain kinds of wildlife. On April 5th, the Maryland Court of Appeals will determine whether Howard County should grant Frisky’s a permit to keep our genetic cousins.
I doubt anyone has problem with helping monkeys, as long as the help is being provided in someone else’s community. The opposition to the facility attempts to create the impression that we will have an Ebola outbreak if the facility is allowed to operate. I fail to see any reasonable safety threats from Frisky’s. I certainly hope that the necessary permits are granted.
9 comments:
Your showing a great deal of compassion, and I admire that. Keep us posted.
Free Market, you may want people to look up the "Frisky's Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary" site. It's a great site, good art work and informative, also each hit is a penny donation to the sanctuary.
Sounds like good monkey "cents" to me.
Jim, thanks. Your suggestion for a link to Frisky’s was heeded. I am a little gun shy about linking to organizations because I put a link to the Lance Armstrong Foundation on an old post, but they have a restrictive linking policy that I violated in doing so. I never heard anything from them, and I figured out what I did and immediately took the link down. Frisky’s appears to have no such policy, so I suppose a link is ok.
I really wonder if Wyckoff has even seen the place. He says it's poorly regulated, which it absolutely is not. The house is complete with bars on the windows, high fences, cameras, motion lights, etc. Plus, it's no small committment to volunteer there either. Colleen requires more hours in training than it took me to get my EMT-B certification.
They haven't had a single incident in all the years they've been located there. I hope the courts final settle in their favor.
"I doubt anyone has problem with helping monkeys, as long as the help is being provided in someone else’s community."
Frisky's and its many supporters are all the more reason I'm proud to live in Howard County. To have such a sanctuary in our midst is an honor and resource many of us do appreciate.
"The same zoning laws that make sustainable neighborhoods illegal also restrict the rehabilitation of certain kinds of wildlife."
That incorrectly makes it sound like zoning laws prevent sustainable neighborhoods. That is not true.
Zoning laws often prevent sustainable neighborhoods. Read this to find out how.
Imagine how surprised the alleged 100 people (who signed a petition) will be if they get their way and then realize the Wyckoffs have been a front for Developers that only want the Frisky's property. Their 'lawyer' is a well known Real Estate lawyer in the County- in fact, he represents the Developer who built next to Frisky's AND the Developer who approached all the neighbors about buying their properties. Gee - sounds like motivation to me. Frisky's is the only thing preventing them from big profits?!? No one in their right mind could or would pay the absorbent fees this lawyer charges for all the 'good 'ol boy' litigation that has taken place.
It's clear to the clear minded with no agenda that what is happening here is NOT what we are hearing. Howard County P & Z misled and ill-advised Frisky's from the start by guiding them in their application process and then the Board of Appeals ran a circus of a case, did not follow policies and explained away all their allowances. (They personally knew the Wyckoff's lawyer and referred to him frequently in familiar terms). A certain Board member practically never showed up and Board members changed during the course of the case. The Howard County Board of Appeals feels that they are above the Federal Government's recognition of Frisky's and ultimately do not comprehend the USDA license that Frisky's holds.
All Howard County officials that have been remotely or closely involved in this fiasco have sided with Frisky's except for the Board of Appeals. You have to ask yourself why that is. It's too involved to explain here. The County has placed animals and primates there - come on people use your brain bucket!
A loss for Frisky's will be a loss for the animals, the primates, the County and the residents of not just Howard County, but of many surrounding areas. It would be devastation to the life work of Colleen Layton-Robbins, Scott Robbins and all the volunteers and supporters. The loss of Frisky's will be a message to us all from Howard County. We cater to the Developers. We don't care about the Wildlife. We don't care about lifelong residents. We are spineless and greedy. We are self-serving. Must I go on......?
LONG LIVE FRISKY'S
Please people give me a break. I have known Colleen for many years. The "Real" Colleen. She Might have taken in a few monkeys but basically most of her monkeys she has purchased over the years as babies from breeders and has raised them as her pets. With each purchase she makes up a story of how they have come to her. Please an exotic animal owner dropped off a 1 month old baby to her? I think NOT! No way would this happen when he/she could have sold this baby for 6K to another exotic owner and to say because this 1 month old baby wasn't getting along with it's mother? Who in the world would believe such a thing? Stupid people only. She was not zoned to have monkeys, only wildlife. She broke the law, however she feels as though she is beyond the law. She wants everyone to believe that she is doing a great service for these monkeys when in fact they have been her pets and she asked for donations to help raise them? If you do a real good search on Colleen you will find out that she has brought these monkeys out in the public and one has even bitten someone in a store. There are many many "REAL" sanctuaries out there that would give each of these monkeys a great home. I say the monkeys should leave and allow her to have what she was only allowed to have..... Wild life! Would you want your children playing next to monkeys that carry diseases? I certainly wouldn't! And those macaques do carry diseases! HEP B and HIV
Interesting gossip-mongering and scare tactics, Anon 11:35.
If your children are found "playing next to monkeys," then your children have trespassed, broken into Frisky's house, and opened a cage.
Monkeys carry diseases, yes. As do wildlife, dogs, cats, and children.
Where are the zoning laws to protect me from your sneezing, bacteria-laden offspring?
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