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Benjamin the 'Attack Monkey' passes quietly
Jan 28, 2011 6:32 am
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Benjamin, the "Greene County Attack Monkey," as seen in the NY Daily News."]
[/caption]The Watershed Post brought up a New York Daily News story about Benjamin, the "monkey terror of Greene County," who attacked a guest at the Kaaterskill Bed and Breakfast last summer and then was spirited away to Florida by his owner, who himself fled to South America. Benjamin, both publications say, died of cancer on Monday in a Florida home for difficult primates. "This means he successfully avoided Greene County's halfhearted attempt to euthanize him for biting the face of an Iranian immigrant who was trying to photograph him in his cage at the Catskill bed-and-breakfast," WP reports, adding that the Daily News writes that "the 17-year-old monkey spent his last days getting his face scratched and back rubbed by Jungle Friends workers while enjoying a diet of cooked vegetables." Benjamin's owner, Allen Hirsch, is being sued by the attack victim and could face additional charges from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation -- if he ever returns from Venezuela.
[/caption]The Watershed Post brought up a New York Daily News story about Benjamin, the "monkey terror of Greene County," who attacked a guest at the Kaaterskill Bed and Breakfast last summer and then was spirited away to Florida by his owner, who himself fled to South America. Benjamin, both publications say, died of cancer on Monday in a Florida home for difficult primates. "This means he successfully avoided Greene County's halfhearted attempt to euthanize him for biting the face of an Iranian immigrant who was trying to photograph him in his cage at the Catskill bed-and-breakfast," WP reports, adding that the Daily News writes that "the 17-year-old monkey spent his last days getting his face scratched and back rubbed by Jungle Friends workers while enjoying a diet of cooked vegetables." Benjamin's owner, Allen Hirsch, is being sued by the attack victim and could face additional charges from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation -- if he ever returns from Venezuela.