Susan Mata, who lives on Beryl Circle, received a letter last Friday from Animal Operations Director Brenda Sears, giving her seven days to remove the monkey from her home. In the letter, Sears said the ordinance defines primates as non-domestic animals and that it prohibits residents from keeping a non-domestic animal “that is dangerous to persons or property, or which has the potential to be dangerous to persons or property.”
“It is not our intention to deprive them of their pet,” Sears said Tuesday morning. “We have to apply the ordinance equally to everyone.”
Mata, a former nurse who said she has been disabled for 10 years following an automobile accident, said Tuesday that has owned three capuchin monkeys since 2003. Two have since died.
Mata said a former animal control officer, who is no longer with the county, visited her home in 2008 and gave her permission to have two monkeys after determining that her home provided an adequate space to keep them.
“I don’t know why the county is doing this now,” Mata said, her voice breaking with emotion. “They are so docile. They are like my children. They are like humans. This is not fair.”
Mata also questioned why the county is giving just seven days to remove the monkey, saying it would take more time to find “a good home.” She said she is talking with an attorney about options.
Mata and her husband, Manuel, contend the monkeys are service or companion animals for her.
She said the monkey “helps me deal with many things, especially her disability. It gives me peace of mind and serenity. He is here for me when I am hurting. He comforts me.”
Sears said the state law does not make a provision to allow monkeys to be registered as service animals.
She said she is aware that an animal control officer visited the Mata home in 2008 but could not say why the decision was made then since none of those involved are now employed by the county.
“Once I became aware of it, I conducted an investigation,” Sears said. “Regardless of what happened in the past, I still have an obligation to see that the ordinance is enforced.”
Sears wrote in the letter to Mata that a resident informed the Board of Commissioners on Aug. 15 about “primates being located at your residence” and that staff was asked to conduct a review. She said she contacted the state veterinarian, Carl Williams, at the N.C. Department of epidemiology.
In her findings. Sears said North Carolina is one of six states that do not regulate or prohibit the keeping of primates. She wrote that Williams stated that the Department of Epidemiology “supports any local ordinance which prohibits the keeping of non-human primates,” citing public health concerns and “the complex physical and emotional needs of the animals.”
Sears cited two incidents in which Mata’s monkeys bit someone — in June 2007 and December 2013 — and that the county received “unverified reports of additional bites.” Mata said the incidents cited in the letter were the other two monkeys, Emma and Magoo.
“Jake has never bitten anyone,” she said. “He is not dangerous.”
Mata pointed out that there are large dogs in her neighborhood that pose more of a danger than her 12-pound monkey.
Sears also said in the letter to Mata that “witnesses stated capuchin monkeys were at times unrestrained on the property of the owner.” She said she spoke with Mata on Sept. 24 about keeping the remaining monkey and that she “admitted the animal is allowed outdoors supervised but unrestrained on a daily basis” and that Jake’s canine teeth were removed to reduce the amount of damage inflicted by a bite.
“The monkey is never outside without one of us being with them,” Mata said.
Manuel Mata questioned why the monkey could not be grandfathered in since they had monkeys before the current animal control ordinance was adopted in 2008. Sears said there is no provision for doing that.
She said in an interview that the ordinance is clear about non-domestic animals.
“Due to the nature of monkeys in general, they are non-domestic animals that will bite,” she said. “The state vet believes it is inappropriate to to keep them as a pet.”
The issue with the monkeys came to light earlier this year when a neighbor complained to the village of Pinehurst about a trailer with furniture being on the Matas’ property. Manuel Mata said it belonged to his brother-in-law. He said they were helping him move to South Carolina.
He said in an e-mail to The Pilot that Angel Smith with village code enforcement drove by and took pictures, and in the process she noticed they had “an unauthorized structure,” which was an outside cage for Jake. He said they were told to remove the cage and fined $500 because they did not have a permit.
Manuel Mata said his wife had several surgeries on her left hand and he works during the day. They built an extension of the monkey’s cage into the backyard so it would have some place to go out and exercise without having to worry about him going off of the property. But after the village's citation, the couple removed the cage.
Sears said the removal of the cage “underscores their inability to care for it and allow it outside to get exercise.”
The Matas both questioned the thoroughness of Sears’ investigation, saying she never attempted to contact them and that she got only one side of the story from their neighbors.
Susan Mata said all of this has taken an emotional toll on her since she was trying to get over the death of Emma earlier this year, as well as the stress of several recent surgeries.
“Now they are giving me seven days to get rid of him,” she said. “I can’t believe they are putting me through all of this for no good reason. I don’t know what I will do without him.”
(Southern Pines Pilot - October 9, 2014)
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