WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: Monkey Owner Answers Questions

Monkey Owner Answers Questions

By Bert Case
bert@wlbt.net

The owner of a pet monkey accused of attacking an IRS agent says the animal meant no harm and was simply trying to protect its owner.  

The six-year-old monkey belongs to Lynn Pickett who lives in rural Rankin County near Richland. The monkey's name is Justin and his owner 43-year-old Lynn Pickett says Justin has never attacked anybody before.  He scratched the arm of an IRS agent who came to inspect property on Wesley Street because the property owners had fallen behind on their income tax payments. 

Pickett was angry when she saw WLBT's story on the monkey on the six p.m. report Thursday.  In that report we also got it wrong about where the monkey lives.  Neighbors told us it was at the end of Wesley Street where there was a gate and a dog.  That is where we went.  It turns out the person who lives at that house does not own a monkey, and we apologize for the error.  The man who lives there says the money wouldn't harm anybody and he lives next door, so he should know.  Lynn Pickett told us a little bit about Justin.

"It's like a baby to me.  I raised him and kept him in diapers and in bottles.  He's a member of our family. He did scratch her.  I will say he did scratch her because he had claws, but he didn't break her skin.  He is a snow macack, and he didn't come from Japan.  His breed originally come from Japan, but he come from a lady in Louisiana," said Pickett.

The owners of the monkey have been cited for having a wild animal in captivity, as Sheriff Ronnie Pennington told us when he told us about the attack Tuesday. The monkey was tied to a rope on a leash and could climb trees at either end.  Lynn says the monkey is her baby and she wants her baby back.  The monkey is expected to be turned over to the Animal Rescue League after tests about its health come back.