QCOSTARICA – With the objective that he learn the importance of letting wild animals live free and stop buying monkeys, the Rescue Center in Tilaran, Costa Rica, has invited Justin Bieber to visit.
“What concerns me is that he has millions of fans who may imitate him and think that having a monkey is cool, as he believes,” Vanessa Lizano, who heads the Rescue Center, told EFE on Thursday.
Lizano said she doesn’t know if Bieber will accept the invitation.
She said that the black market for wild animals is a worldwide problem and famous artists such as Bieber could help to fight it if they are educated on conservation and environmental awareness.
“We’d like to educate the boy so that instead of buying monkeys he helps to rehabilitate them,” Lizano said.
The Tilaran Rescue Center posted a note on its website in which it offers a free educational trip to the Canadian singer with the aim of informing him of the risks of having a monkey as a pet. The post says that if Bieber shelves his idea of buying monkeys, the Rescue Center will name an animal rehabilitation centre after him.
According to the center, Capuchin or Whitefaced monkeys suffer trauma when they are separated from their mothers and, as a result, they become aggressive when they are adults in captivity.
The Rescuecenter.org message to Bieber:
San Jose, Costa Rica – February 22nd 2016 – It seems that fame and fortune is also accompanied by the rite of passage of making ludicrous and poorly-planned purchases – be it huge houses, fast cars, or exotic pets.
The latter of those frivolous investments often times is more than the owner bargained for, and that’s why Vanessa Lizano, CEO of non-profit Rescuecenter.org, has followed the lead of The North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance (NAPSA) and is pleading with pop superstar Justin Bieber to reconsider the purchase of a monkey, following his comments in a recent interview in GQ Magazine.
Lizano is offering Justin and his entourage an all-inclusive free trip to her Tilaran, Costa Rican facility for educational classes about the hazards of owning a monkey as a pet. If Justin cannot make the trip but will still abandon his hopes of owning a monkey she has promised to name her new rehabilitation center for injured monkeys after the two-time AMA “Artist of the Year” – the “Justin Bieber Monkey Rehabilitation Center”.
Lizano had the following to say, “I believe Justin is an amazing artist. However, with that status there is also amazing responsibility. A person of his stature needs to send the right messages to the world. Owning and keeping a monkey as a pet is not the right message. I hope that if Justin really thinks monkeys are awesome as much as we do here at the Rescue Center he will take us up on our offer and come learn first-hand how to care for them and why they should be released to their natural habitats.”
Lizano has stated that herbiggest concern is that Justin is probably oblivious to the fact that younger monkeys suffer severe trauma when separated from their mothers, which leads to aggressiveness and biting as monkeys get older. Also, she feels Justin is probably not aware that monkeys have long life expectancies, with capuchin whiteface monkeys living 40 years or more. That means when Justin is 61 years old and headlining at an off-strip casino in Las Vegas, he’ll have to pause between “Baby” and “What Do You Mean?” to feed and care for what will be one cantankerous primate.
Bieber, who came under fire from animal activists after he was forced to abandon his previous pet monkey in Germany due to the country’s strict laws regarding exotic animals back in 2013, said he was interested in purchasing another monkey, telling GQ:
“Yeah, one day. Just gotta make sure I got a house and it stays in the f-ing house. I’m not gonna bring him to Germany or travel with it anymore. People are always like, ‘Why did you get a monkey?’ If you could get a monkey, well, you would get a f-ing monkey, too! Monkeys are awesome.”
Monkeys are awesome, Justin. That’s one thing Rescue Center can agree with you on. But they’re far too awesome to be someone’s glamor pet. The offer is on the table: Rescue Center would love to educate and honor you for doing the right thing. See you in Costa Rica!
About Rescue Center: Located in beautiful Tilaran, Costa Rica the Rescue Center is the perfect destination for volunteers and interns from around the world who feel that their hard work and effort can make a difference in the lives of many of the country’s injured indigenous wildlife. RescueCenter.org is not a zoo and believes in the simple philosophy of rescue, rehabilitate and release.
For an interview request regarding this PR please email Vanessa Lizano direct at info@rescuecenter.com or visit the website direct.
For more visit the Rescue Center website.
