Pet monkey shot, killed after escaping and ripping woman’s ear in half

DICKSON, Okla. (KXII/Gray News) – A woman in Oklahoma is recovering after an unexpected monkey attack.

Brittany Parker said she was sitting on her couch Sunday when she saw a curious monkey on her porch.

“I had actually Facetimed some family and I was like, ‘look there’s a monkey,’” Parker said. “He was pacing back and then he was jumping off of my railing and hitting my storm door.”

Parker said the monkey tried to get inside the house and even ripped off part of the door handle, so she called 911.

Dickson Police Chief Tim Duncan said in his 20 years of being in law enforcement, he’s seen a lot of animal-at-large calls, but never a monkey.

“It’s Oklahoma, it happens,” Duncan said. “We get animal calls all the time. It’s something that we deal with, it’s just -- monkeys are not a normal thing for us.”

Parker said the monkey was acting friendly toward the officers when they arrived, so she went outside with her son and the monkey came charging.

“He crawled up my back, yanked out multiple wads of hair and then ripped my ear in half,” Parker said. “And it was just hanging.”

Parker was taken to the hospital and given a rabies shot while officers tried to locate the monkey.

It was spotted near Parker’s neighborhood just after sunset when one of her friends shot and killed the animal.

“I think that there needs to be some type of law that says that you need to have some kind of training as well as a certificate to even hold these type of animals,” Parker said.

She said the experience was traumatic, and doctors are concerned about her hearing as the ear heals.

Duncan said officials are trying to figure out who the monkey’s owner is and take the information to the district attorney’s office for a final decision on what they want to do with the case.

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