It seems that yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for tighter regulations on chimpanzees:
A week after a woman lay in critical condition after being mauled by a pet chimpanzee, the Captive Primate Safety Act passed by a 323-95 vote, with 93 Republicans in opposition.
The act would apply to the sale and transport of monkeys, great apes, lemurs, etc. The measure “makes it unlawful for a person to sell or purchase a live animal of any prohibited wildlife species in interstate or foreign commerce,” according to a Library of Congress summary.
I’m not sure how much of a public safety issue really exists here, but this seems to me to make sense as in wildlife preservation terms. It’s also led to some funny jokes:
Phil Klinker offers “Opponents of the bill might want to print bumper stickers saying, ‘When owning a pet chimp is a crime, then only criminals will have pet chimps.’”
And then there’s Bad Banana: “The government wants to ban pet chimps? I’m sorry, but you can have my chimp when you pry him from my cold, dead neighbor.”
Previous in TP Yglesias
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