The owner of a Japanese macaque named Darwin — otherwise known as the IKEA monkey — says if she can't bring him home from a primate sanctuary on weekends, she doesn't want to visit him at all.
Darwin was scooped up by animal services and sent to the Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Sunderland, Ont., after he was found in a tiny shearling coat wandering an IKEA parking lot in Toronto.
Yasmin Nakhuda, who says she has cared for Darwin like a child since she got him in July, filed a motion in court to try to get him back and wanted to be able to take him home pending a court hearing in January.
A judge ruled Friday that Darwin would stay at the sanctuary at least until the next court hearing, but said Ms. Nakhuda should be allowed to visit him at the sanctuary.
Ms. Nakhuda, who broke down in tears in court , declined the sanctuary's offer of brief, strictly supervised visits, saying if she couldn't take him home for a visit she doesn't want to visit at all.
She says Darwin will be distressed if he sees her while he has to stay in a cage and she then has to leave at the end of the visit.