Two People Charged After Going To A Waterpark And Leaving Their Baby Monkeys In A Hot Car Where One Died
Sevierville, Tennessee. At 4:30 in the afternoon on June 23rd, the management team at the Soaky Mountain Waterpark called police about a dead monkey inside of a car at the park.
Officers with the Sevierville Police Department arrived on the scene and sadly discovered a 9-week-old marmoset monkey that had passed away in the car.
They found a second monkey inside of the car too, and this one was only 5-weeks-old. The younger monkey was still alive but clearly in distress due to the intense heat.
The younger monkey was rushed to Appalachian Animal Hospital, and thankfully is currently recovering from severe dehydration.
Change.org; pictured above is Kiki, the baby marmoset who passed away in the car
Authorities noted that although it was 87 degrees outside in the parking lot of the waterpark, the temperature inside of the car that the monkeys were in was much hotter than that.
Citing the ASPCA, the Sevierville Police Department pointed out that temperatures inside of a car during the summer can quickly go from 85 to 120 degrees in just 30 minutes.
54-year old Nova Brettell and 54-year old David Paul Brettell, the owner of both monkeys, were arrested.
Reportedly, the pair paid upwards of $4,000 for each of their monkeys.
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Nova was charged with aggravated animal cruelty, and David was charged with animal cruelty.
“Additional charges are possible. The investigation is ongoing,” the Sevierville Police Department noted.
There is currently a change.org petition going around to get justice for Kiki, the monkey who passed away.
The petition asks that Nova and David get the maximum sentence and have their remaining animals removed from their care.
Facebook; pictured above is a statement from the Sevierville Police Department
Below are some of the comments people left on the post from the Sevierville Police Department.
“I have a marmoset and I cannot believe that someone would actually be this uncaring. These babies are just like human babies.”
“Very sensitive to temperature and they need to be cared for and given fluids and fed every little bit. Penalty should be as strict on these two as it would be if they left their human child in the car! Grrrrrr! Makes my blood boil!”
“Just a note for people calling for death or jail time (and I have no idea who these people are) but if you were in a motor home and had pets the engine stays or generator stays running its possible they left the car running w a/c not knowing the car shuts off automatically because a lot of people are not aware of that feature in vehicles I learned with ice cream, but who knows they may have thought it’d stay on and they were safe.”
“You don’t spend the money that these monkeys cost and the time it takes to take care of them if you plan on just leaving them in a hot car….. betting it was a terribly huge lesson In learning about the auto shut off. So sad for everyone and these poor baby monkeys involved!”
“People have more money than sense. Those poor little babies are so tiny and so precious. I cannot even imagine putting a water park before my animal or children’s safety.”
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know what heat could do to someone? They should have used better judgment now one baby is gone. This could have easily been a child!”
“I’m curious what their side of the story is? Did they try to leave the car running? Did the Monkeys hide in their car somehow?”
“My sister-in-law is an animal lover and would never, EVER hurt a furbaby but tragedy struck at her home a couple summers ago – her black dog climbed into her car while she was cleaning out the front seat, she left the car door open when she walked back into the house with her hands full of stuff.”
“Her daughter pulled up with her kids and shut the door as she walked by heading into the house. A joyful reunion with kids running around and needing to potty and have snacks and cuddles etc……an hour or so passes and they go in the backyard to see the dogs……two were there, one was missing…..I’m sure you know where this is going. A horrible tragedy……but NOT a crime!”
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