SOURCE: The News Herald, Morganton, North Carolina

Thursday, December 6, 2007
By Sharon McBrayer

Monkey bite victim wants things 'back to normal'

MORGANTON - Burke County animal control officers say the couple who owns the monkey that attacked a local store clerk won't face charges.

The monkey attacked Brooke Ross, a clerk at Family Food Mart, biting her on the right cheek on Sunday at the Rutherford College store.

Burke County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Massey said they know who the local couple is, but he isn't releasing their name because they haven't been charged.

And Ross fears for their safety. She said they've offered to pay her medical bills related to the incident.

"They've been extremely nice," Ross said. "They're super-nice people and if anything happened to them I would feel horrible."

Ross said the couple has called the store every day to check on her. Ross said the couple came forward on Tuesday.

She said she's healing well and is looking forward to wearing makeup again.

Massey said the reason they won't face charges is because there are few laws regarding monkeys because they aren't considered inherently dangerous.

The monkey has had a rabies shot, Massey said, but the state doesn't recognize it. He said the monkey has multiple vaccinations.

"The monkey probably has more shots than some of the kids in our school system," Massey said.

They told Massey they won't take the animal out in public anymore, he said.

The incident has sparked national attention.

Massey said he has been bombarded with phone calls. He said other news agencies reported that the man is a long-distance truck driver and Massey has been contacted by folks from as far away as New York with tips on the monkey's identity.

Ross said the story has been picked up in Alabama, New York and Florida, and the news magazine show Inside Edition has contacted her, wanting to do a story about the incident. But Ross said she's not doing it.

"I'm a small-town girl. I want everything to go back to the way it was," Ross said. "Nobody deserves this to go any further."

But some humor has come out of the incident.

Ross said customers have brought her bananas and one even brought her a stuffed monkey.

"I have had my taste of being famous and I don't want to be famous," Ross said. "I just want to be the small-town girl who's raising her kids. I just want everything back to normal."

smcbrayer@morganton.com