Confiscated Pasco monkeys moved to sanctuary

Two capuchin monkeys confiscated from a Pasco home have been moved to an undisclosed sanctuary while the city continues investigating their background.

Cyrus, 9, and Coliane, 2, were removed Feb. 14 by officials with the Tri-Cities Animal Shelter after police served a warrant at their White Bluff Court home.

Officials reportedly had received complaints about the monkeys.

On Tuesday, the city of Pasco announced in a news release that the monkeys were taken to a sanctuary “until the conclusion of the investigation where the outcome for the monkeys and the other parties involved will be determined.”

They had been under quarantine at the Pasco animal shelter.

“The city is looking for the best outcome for the monkeys in accordance with state law,” said Rick Terway, Pasco’s director of administrative and community services.

Owner Monica Bachmann said she’s received no notice from the city that the monkeys were being moved. She’d been told it was a possibility, but only after a 10-day quarantine at the shelter, she said.

“It’s only been eight days, so why’d they move them?” she said.

City spokesman Jon Funfar said the move was necessary as the shelter is not the best location for the monkeys. He declined to disclose where the sanctuary is located, saying only it is on the west side of the state and a licensed nonprofit facility. He also said he did not know why the monkeys were moved before the quarantine period was over.

Bachmann has said that the monkeys were purchased from breeders in Louisiana and Tennessee.

She admitted that she lied to animal control officials about owning monkeys because she was afraid of losing them.

Bachmann told the Herald last week that they filled a void for her since she couldn’t have children. Left heartbroken, she compared the experience to children being taken away by Child Protective Services.

A 2007 state law bans citizens from owning monkeys and other wild animals considered potentially dangerous. However, there is an exception to the law that allows people to possess a wild pet if they owned the animal before July 2007.

Owners must show proof the animal was owned before 2007. Officials also can ask for veterinary records and documents showing how the animal was brought into the state.

Bachmann said she and her husband, Robert, bought Cyrus for $12,000 in 2006 and Coliane for $12,000 a little more than two years ago. That would mean under state law that Coliane is owned illegally.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Confiscated Pasco monkeys moved to sanctuary."