Pet monkey attacks Oklahoma woman before being fatally shot, police say
A pet monkey attacked an Oklahoma woman on Sunday before a family member of the victim shot and killed the primate, police said.
The attack, which left the woman with non-life-threatening injuries, happened just after 6 p.m. when police received a report of a monkey on someone’s porch, according to the Dickson Police Department.
When police arrived on the scene, they called the Oklahoma Wildlife Department for help. And when officers got out of the car, the monkey jumped into the back of the vehicle, then ran towards the victim and climbed on top of her, causing unspecified injuries, police said.
NBC affiliate KTEN of Ada, a town about 83 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, reported that the victim, Brittany Parker, was the person who initially called police to report the monkey. She told the local station that the monkey “ran up my back and jumped on my head, ripped my hair out, then ripped my ear in half like you would a piece of paper”.
Parker was first transported to Mercy Hospital in Ardmore and then to OU University of Oklahoma Health Medical Center in Oklahoma City to receive treatment for her injuries, police said.
She was discharged from hospital early Monday with bruises and a stitched up ear, KTEN reported.
After allegedly attacking Parker, the monkey then ran into a wooded area, and its owners – and the police – tried unsuccessfully to find it, with police warning the public not to approach the animal. At one point, a member of Parker’s family shot and killed the monkey, police said.
KTEN reported that it was a friend of Parker who killed the animal, with Parker claiming the monkey also attacked the person who killed it. “We called him and he came here, and after I was attacked the monkey came out to his vehicle, slapped him and pulled his hair,” Parker told the local station.
The monkey’s body is being analyzed at the Oklahoma disease lab for testing, according to Dickson police, who said the investigation is ongoing.
Oklahoma law classifies primates as pets, making it legal to own one without a permit, KTEN reported. But state law also makes it a misdemeanor punishable by $50 or 30 days in jail for failing to keep pets properly confined.
The Dickson Police Department did not immediately respond to questions.