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Chris Brown facing charges for keeping exotic monkey as pet

LOS ANGELES — Singer Chris Brown is facing misdemeanor charges stemming from keeping an exotic monkey in his Los Angeles home without a permit.

TMZ reported that Brown first shared a video of his 3-year-old daughter cuddling the animal on Instagram in 2017, prompting an investigation for the girl's safety and primate's welfare by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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The Associated Press reported that the Los Angeles city attorney confirmed it has charged the singer with two misdemeanors. According to TMZ, the charges are two counts of having a Capuchin monkey, a restricted species, without a permit.

Under California state law, it’s illegal to import, transport or possess the animals without an official permit from the Fish and Wildlife Department. Owning the monkey, which Brown named Fiji, can carry a maximum sentence of six months in jail.

 

Capuchin monkeys, also called sapajou, are native to Central and South America and are considered "among the most intelligent of the New World monkeys," according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

The primates can be used to help the physically disabled with chores, but wildlife officials adamantly oppose keeping Capuchin as pets.

"Keeping monkeys as pets threatens public health and safety as well as animal welfare. They can attack, they can spread disease and the average pet owner cannot meet their needs in captivity," Beth Preiss, of the Humane Society of the United States, told The Associated Press in 2010.

Brown agreed to voluntarily surrender the pet and is due in court on Feb. 6, 2019.