Thursday, March 10, 2011

Frisky Business

Frisky’s Wildlife  and Primate Sanctuary was in the news again today. It was the subject of this column by John Kelly in The Washington Post. John reports that “Every animal at Frisky's has a story.”

“Kiko, a rhesus macaque, was given up by his human family in Iowa after he started biting people. His former owner visits Frisky's annually, sleeping on a cot across from Kiko's cage.”

Colleen Layton-Robbins, the preserve proprietor, has a total of 23 monkeys on her three acre property in Woodstock. She has other animals too.

In the rabbit room are a clutch of baby bunnies, rescued from a hoarding situation. There are pygmy goats, minks, chinchilla, parrots, squirrels, all tended by Colleen and an army of volunteers.

Frisky’s has been in a long running zoning battle with their neighbors, Julianne and Richard Wyckoff. The Wyckoffs want the monkeys to go, contending that the preserve is both a nuisance and a health hazard. Their fight has gone all the way up to the state Court of Appeals only to be kicked back down to the county. There is another hearing with the Board of Appeals tonight.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Colleen apparently has all the required federal and state licenses and the help of a cadre of dedicated volunteers but three acres seems like a pretty small piece of land for wildlife and primate operation.

I think I’ll take Peanut over there and check it out. I’ll report back after that.
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