A St Michael mother is wondering how she will be compensated after her nine-year-old son was attacked by a pet monkey last Thursday.
Marisso Moore said her son Marico, a student of St Giles Primary School, suffered four lacerations to his feet, and she was unsure what steps to take after being “run around by those in authority”.
Marico, who is now home for a week as a result of his wounds, explained that while he and some friends were on their way home after school they saw a monkey sitting in the road.
One of his friends removed a branch from next to the monkey, then threw it back on the ground and ran, and the monkey pursued them. Marico was not as lucky as his friends, judging from the 30 stitches he received to his calves.
Moore said it was reported to her that after her son was attacked, the owner’s brother came outside, held out his hands and the monkey went to him and was placed in a cage.
After the incident, Moore said, her son was taken to the hospital by her mother. When she herself reached the hospital, officials there told her she would have to give them a certificate from the police.
“I contacted the police, only to be told it is a civil matter and not a domestic one” she said, adding that they suggested she call the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).
When she did, chief inspector Wayne Norville told her there was nothing he could do in that situation.
She then visited the police station, since she still needed the certificate to present to the doctors. Moore said the officer on duty suggested it was a waste of time trying to approach the owner.
“It’s like no one is concerned that this monkey bit my child – not the police, not even the owner,” she fumed. “I just don’t know what to do here. I need some kind of compensation from that owner, but I don’t feel that I should have to go to him.”
When contacted yesterday, Norville confirmed that he had received the report and had advised Moore on the issue.
“The police were wrong to tell her to contact the RSPCA because it was not a wild monkey . . . . The police know it is a procedure that has to be followed . . . . That monkey attacked a child and [the police] have all rights to investigate it,” he noted.
Police public relations officer Inspector David Welch told the DAILY NATION: “We received a report from a parent that a child or children had been attacked by a monkey. Police investigation revealed that a boy was indeed injured as a result of an incident involving a monkey.”
Welch said after a complete investigation was carried out the officers met with and advised the parent that the law did not permit the police to do anything about the matter.
“We told her what the law states and directed her accordingly.” (CT)