Lawsuit puts spotlight on exotic animal trade

Gayle O’Neal is suing to lift a state quarantine on her animals. (The Virginian-Pilot file photo)

By Janette Rodrigues
The Virginian-Pilot

CHESAPEAKE

An exotic pet trade drama is expected to unfold in Chesapeake Circuit Court today when a Deep Creek woman who breeds and sells capuchin monkeys will ask the court to lift a tuberculosis quarantine on her animals.

The case includes allegations of a forged veterinary health report and claims of sick animals being transported across several states.

Federal officials and animal advocates say anything from a turtle to a tiger cub can be bought over the Internet, a fact that drives the exotic pet business in the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates the trade is a multi billion -dollar industry. Gayle O'Neal, who is suing the state, has worked as a licensed U.S. Department of Agriculture exhibitor for at least 20 years.

Locally, people know her for her traveling petting zoo exhibits and providing animals for Nativity scenes. She keeps 30 capuchin, or "organ grinder," monkeys on her 23-acre farm called Spellbound.

She had been breeding and

selling the infant monkeys for $5,500 to $10,000 each.

"It's all kind of shocking," said Beth Preiss, exotic pets campaign director for the Humane Society of the United States. "And now you have animals, monkeys, for sale on the Internet and anyone can buy them. It makes it possible for them to get in the hands of someone who can't care for them."

An Internet search of the phrase "baby capuchin monkey sale " turns up links to a photo of a tiny primate, wearing a pink satin doll's dress. Other links lead to a computer program called "Ultimate Monkey Finder's Guide," which promises to help the buyer "avoid the pitfalls of most would-be monkey owners."

O'Neal fell into one of those pitfalls when she decided to buy a dozen monkeys sight unseen from a Florida supplier. She called herself too trusting.

Two capuchin monkeys bought from the Florida dealer later died, and her farm was put under a quarantine in February. O'Neal contends neither monkey had TB.

O'Neal is suing the state for the nearly $100,000 she claims to have lost in business. Her lawsuit contends the state had no reason to quarantine her animals because they repeatedly tested negative for tuberculosis.

O'Neal questions the method used to test her animals. She wants the ban lifted before it bankrupts her.

Nancy Welch, Chesapeake Health Department director, has said that the animals don't pose a public health threat.

O'Neal's troubles started with one sick monkey in the Florida shipment.

She sold the monkey to a Tennessee woman, who had the animal tested for TB. The animal tested positive for the disease twice, but the lawsuit stated a chest X -ray found no evidence of TB.

Julie Rergyamdee, left, of Chesapeake plans to make arrangements in her will for the care of her two macaws. The exotic birds can live to be 70 years old. bill tiernan | the virginian-pilot

But diseases from exotic animals are a real concern. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released earlier this year found that 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases are spread from animals to humans.

Pets can carry something as common as ringworm or as potentially harmful as monkeypox, a serious disease similar to smallpox.

Diseases and dangerous behavior are two reasons the Humane Society of the United States opposes keeping wild animals as pets.

Preiss, the society's exotic pets campaign director, estimates there are 15,000 non human primates, monkeys, chimpanzees and lemurs kept as pets nationwide. A similar number of big cats are in private hands outside accredited zoos, such as a 400-pound Bengal tiger a New York City man kept in his apartment until it mauled him. Chesapeake requires pet owners to have a permit for more dangerous exotic animals so emergency personnel and health departments know they are there, said Kathy Strouse, city animal control coordinator.

Officials acknowledge some owners will not seek a permit. Some try to get rid of an animal when it becomes aggressive or too costly to keep.

One of two boa constrictors at the Portsmouth Humane Society was found crossing Portsmouth Boulevard, said Michael Monroe, the shelter's interim executive director.

Monroe is scrambling to find a way to pay for special housing and food for 13 sick exotic

pets that were rescued Tuesday.

"People keep these pets, and people sell them in pet shops, but they don't care if the (buyer) knows what they are doing or not," he said.

The Virginia Zoo sees its fair share of these animals, especially iguanas, tortoises, snakes and alligators.

Someone wants to give an iguana to the zoo "close to once a week," said Louise Hill, the zoo's general curator. But they grow "to be 3 or 4 feet long with large teeth and tails. They are not your little terrarium creature."

Janette Rodrigues, (757) 222-5208, janette.rodrigues@pilotonline.com