I'm a monkey, I'm a monkey man

The crazy Connecticut Chimp story has made its way across the internet, and despite the hilarious and already infamous details about this Chimp's life (he dressed himself, drank wine, watched television, brushed his teeth, was the managing director of a now defunct hedge fund in Greenwich, and was the 43rd President of the United States) it is yet another reminder of why fucking with nature sometimes results in a completely innocent person getting their hands and face ripped off by an out of control animal that should not be walking around in a house.

I've written on this before, notably here and here.  I have a problem with zoos in general, from the odors to the overwhelming number of fanny packs to the fact the Bronx Zoo once displayed an African.  Tigers, lions, elephants, bears, chimps...  they're not meant to be in captivity.  And don't me started on birds.  I'm in no way an animal rights activist (yesterday I ate chicken, bacon, and sausage) but caging them just seems unsettling to me -- didn't we learn anything from that Twilight Zone episode with Roddy McDowall?

What this woman did, though... She normalized him into a human social setting.   This is why I object when people put sweaters on dogs; first your dressing them and next thing you know they're starring in movies and then ripping the appendages off of your acquaintances.   There has to be a happy medium between caging animals in faux habitats to be gawked at by Kansans and treating them like humans.