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When the now infamous Ikea Monkey, Darwin, made a scene in a local Ikea parking lot, he made international headlines. Dubbed the world’s most fashionable monkey by UK journalists, Darwin became an overnight celebrity. Unfortunately, his fame is failing to protect him from being taken away from his mother, Yasmin Nakhuda, who views Darwin as her son.
Animal Services threatened to take Darwin away from his mother, as it is illegal to own a pet monkey in Toronto. However, Nakhuda has decided to move to Kawartha Lakes where no such bylaws exist. She is willing to uproot and change her life in order to keep Darwin because she believes it is her right to protect him as any loving mother would choose to do.
“Unless you have owned a primate, you can’t really understand my relationship with Darwin,” Nakhuda at a rally outside of Toronto Animal Services. “He was not a dog, he was not a cat; he was a little person.”
The topic has sparked an international debate: is it possible to love a pet like family? Many Torontonians came out to show their support for Nakhuda and Darwin, waving signs that begged “Free Darwin” and proclaimed “We Miss Him”. Some people believe that the love Nakhuda shares with her ‘son’ is familial and genuine, while other residents are unhappy that she circumvented the bylaws in order to obtain Darwin in the first place.
So, what do you think? Should Nakhuda be able to keep Darwin? Do you think it’s possible to love an animal like another human being or a family member?