Would you use a monkey helper (details inside)?

No. I oppose slavery of any kind.

Monkies are naste animals. No way would I want one running around my house.

Off the top of my head, it makes a decent amount of sense. Monkeys are pretty damn smart, and physically capable of doing things that are more ‘human-like’ than dogs. I imagine they could easily open a bottle or get something from a high shelf, for example. Beyond that, I have no idea how safe it would be or what the downsides might be. Can they be trained to use a toilet or litter box? If not, who would diaper them, if the owner is physically incapable of it?

@augustlan the website talks all about the best benefit being the monkey’s fine motor skills. I just keep thinking about the old horror movie Monkey Shines where a service monkey starts killing people. I figure that if they drop the fellow off in the morning and take him away at night I might go for it, but I might be creeped out wondering what a monkey is doing to the house while I am sleeping!

The only monkeys that really creep me out are those old toy ones with the cymbals. Thanks, Stephen King. :p

No, I wouldn’t ever really have a monkey as a servant. They are wild animals and from what I understand with the emphasis on ‘wild’. I think wild animals including birds should be out there doing what they do best – being wild.

If I could put my ethical discomfort aside, I’d make that monkey type notes for me and do some washing and housework around here. Bit of weeding perhaps. Oh there is so much I could get a monkey helper to do. My dogs and cat are hopeless around the house. Leave their toys everywhere and never offer to do the dishes after they eat.

@Bellatrix But dogs and cats were once wild animals, too. And yeah, my cats refuse to help out around the house. Lazy boogers.

A long time ago though @augustlan. They are now well and truly domesticated. Perhaps if they weren’t, we would also question whether we should domesticate them now? It seems to me that dogs are happy to be included in a mixed, human and canine pack. Cats deign to live with us and are our rulers as you know. I look at old footage of chimps being made to perform and that just seems very wrong to me. They are highly intelligent animals and perhaps it does feel like slavery to them.

To these three ‘wild’ animals lying on my bed, wild is what they get when everyone ignores their empty bowl or their locked out of the bedroom in the morning. Spoiled critters.