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Monkey Scratches 2 Girls in Ohio Rampage

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on June 14, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A monkey rampage in Ohio left authorities scrambling. That's what happened when an escaped pet monkey scratches girls in Ohio, leading police and neighbors on a 2.5 hour chase for the wild animal.

The animal escaped from its owner, Cecilia A. Pinkston, 44, running amok around the neighborhood, reports the Sandusky Register.

Two girls were chased by the monkey. The monkey grabbed one girl's leg, and didn't let go until it jumped onto the other girl's head. One girl suffered a scratch on her leg.

Unsurprisingly, neighbors said that they did not know that Pinkston had a pet monkey, reports the Sandusky Register.

One of the girls was taken to the emergency room by her grandmother after her doctor advised her that her granddaughter may need extra monitoring, like a tetanus shot, reports WUPW-TV.

Pinkston was given a misdemeanor citation for allowing an animal to run at large, and was fined $150, the maximum fine. She is also scheduled to appear in court on June 15th, according to the Sandusky Register.

Pinkston has also been told that she must quarantine her monkey for 30 days at a veterinarian's office to make sure the animal has no diseases that might make it behave more aggressively, reports the Mansfield News Journal. And, the most recent monkey rampage was apparently not the first recorded incident with the monkey - it had previously been reported to have aggressive behavior.

Ohio has no specific exotic animal licensing requirement, reports the Mansfield News Journal. Pinkston had some animal dealer licenses through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which were expired. She used to own a pet shop called East Side Grooming and Pet Shop, which is now closed.

Could she face a lawsuit? She might, as owners of pets can be liable for their pets' aggressive behavior if they know or should have knowledge that their pet is dangerous. Since Pinkston's monkey has previous recorded instances of aggressive behavior, she could be on the hook for certain monkey rampages, like when her escaped monkey scratches girls. In Ohio, however, since there are no animal licensing requirements, it's unclear if simply owning the monkey was a crime.

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