Close X
Sunday, November 17, 2024
ADVT 
National

IKEA Monkey Needs Help Keeping Roof Over Its Head, Sanctuary Appeals For Funds

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 15 Apr, 2015 12:14 PM
    TORONTO — The Ikea monkey needs help keeping a roof over its head.
     
    Darwin the monkey — whose story went viral in December 2012 when he was found wandering outside an Ikea store wearing a shearling coat — has been living at Ontario's Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary ever since a court placed him in its care.
     
    The sanctuary in Sunderland, Ont., east of Toronto, has been trying to raise money for a move to new premises since late last year but says donations have dried up and "the situation is desperate."
     
    Story Book is now launching a renewed push for funds, saying it will be evicted from its current premises on June 30.
     
    Daina Liepa, a member of the sanctuary's board of directors, says Story Book is "out of options and out of money."
     
    The sanctuary is appealing to the public as it seeks to raise $250,000 to give Darwin and his fellow primates a new home.
     
    "At Story Book Farm, these primates are given dignity and allowed to be who they are as much as possible. But two more turns of the calendar and they will be homeless and with no reasonable options for living quarters," Liepa wrote in a letter to supporters. "Story Book Farm can be saved but they can’t do it alone."
     
    Darwin is mentioned by name in the sanctuary's latest call for financial help, but Story Book notes it houses 20 monkeys.
     
    Darwin became something of an international celebrity after he escaped from a crate in his owner's car parked in a Toronto Ikea parking lot.
     
    Images of him in his tiny beige shearling coat as he wandered all the way into the store triggered a social media frenzy.
     
    Animal services seized him and sent him to Story Book, prompting his owner, Yasmin Nakhuda to sue the sanctuary in an effort to get him back.
     
    An Ontario Superior Court justice then ruled that Darwin is a wild animal and that Nakhuda's ownership ended with his escape from her car.
     
    Nakhuda decided to appeal the ruling but abandoned her effort, saying it was too costly and had little chance of success.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Ex-student Leader Says Liberals And NDP Must Reject Pipeline To Win Quebec Seats

    Ex-student Leader Says Liberals And NDP Must Reject Pipeline To Win Quebec Seats
    MONTREAL — The NDP and the Liberals must stand against the Energy East pipeline if they hope to have success in Quebec come federal election time, says one of the faces of the province's 2012 student movement.

    Ex-student Leader Says Liberals And NDP Must Reject Pipeline To Win Quebec Seats

    Cleanup Efforts Underway After Blizzard Buries Parts Of Atlantic Canada

    Cleanup Efforts Underway After Blizzard Buries Parts Of Atlantic Canada
    HALIFAX — Services in Atlantic Canada's largest city were operating at reduced levels Thursday, but Halifax Mayor Mike Savage says he's confident work crews can dig the city out without declaring a state of emergency.

    Cleanup Efforts Underway After Blizzard Buries Parts Of Atlantic Canada

    Recommendations From Inquest Into Winnipeg Man's ER Death To Take Years

    Recommendations From Inquest Into Winnipeg Man's ER Death To Take Years
    WINNIPEG — Many recommendations from an inquest into the death of an aboriginal man during a 34-hour wait in a Winnipeg hospital emergency room will take years to implement.

    Recommendations From Inquest Into Winnipeg Man's ER Death To Take Years

    MP Scott Andrews Accepts Findings Of Misconduct Review, Says Process Frustrating

    MP Scott Andrews Accepts Findings Of Misconduct Review, Says Process Frustrating
    CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH, N.L. — Newfoundland MP Scott Andrews accepted the findings Thursday of an executive summary of an independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct but called the process frustrating.

    MP Scott Andrews Accepts Findings Of Misconduct Review, Says Process Frustrating

    B.C.'s Local Government Auditor Says Review Of Her Office Politically Connected

    B.C.'s Local Government Auditor Says Review Of Her Office Politically Connected
    VICTORIA — British Columbia's auditor general for local government says a review of her office is undermining the independence of her bureau and may not be legal.

    B.C.'s Local Government Auditor Says Review Of Her Office Politically Connected

    Abbotsford Police Issue Public Safety Warning About Gavinder Grewal, Sandeep Sidhu, Jimi Sandhu

    Abbotsford Police Issue Public Safety Warning About Gavinder Grewal, Sandeep Sidhu, Jimi Sandhu
    ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — An unusual public safety warning has been issued by police in Abbotsford, B.C., for anyone connected to or who happens to be around three men involved in violence, drugs and weapons.

    Abbotsford Police Issue Public Safety Warning About Gavinder Grewal, Sandeep Sidhu, Jimi Sandhu