Las Vegas activists protest backyard chimp permit
Oct 26, 2012, 7:48 PM
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Animal rights activists in a city already jittery from chimp escapes this summer are protesting a Las Vegas-area property owner’s request to house primates in a residential area.
Activist Linda Faso says she and others are demonstrating Friday against what she calls “a public safety issue.”
Town leaders are expected to review a use permit next week that would allow four chimps and a capuchin monkey on the property.
A woman who answered at the home said chimps are already living there, but said she didn’t own them. Owner James “Mike” Casey didn’t immediately return calls.
Casey bred the chimp responsible for mauling a Connecticut woman in 2009.
Las Vegas was recently shaken when two chimps escaped a different backyard and ran the streets. Police killed one and tranquilized another.
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