This is Alfies's story...

Now most rescued animals have their own story, but when it comes to wild animals it is very close to home for me.
Alfie is a young Capuchin monkey, and unlike many other monkeys who has been dealt a similar fate he is a success story.

Alfie was found in the 'care' of a man who worked in a wildlife institution, he was given the monkey as a barely weened infant, and as I am sure you can imagine, very few things are cuter than a new born animal. The thing with Capuchin monkeys is that the can become quite busy and difficult especially in a captive environment, they need a lot of space and freedom, and even when tamed and trained, the can be quite the handful.

The man who had clearly not been aware of what he had let himself in for (other than taking in a cute baby monkey) ended up confining Alfie in a tiny cage at night, and then would take him to work with him during the day, leaving him strapped up in his portable car-chair at the reception desk with a nappy on.

Capuchin monkeys are one of the most sociable monkeys and to leave one in a small cage alone especially as a tiny baby that is still in need of its mothers care is a horrid example of how to treat them, and keeping them strapped in and confined to a car-chair during the day even worse.

Luckily Alfie was still being fed correctly, but his tiny body was not getting the needed exercise in order to grow and develop properly, his he was not being stimulated in a much needed social or mental way, the result being that Alfie was becoming more and more depressed, leading to a lack of apatite and other health issues.

What was even worse was the fact that Alfie was still on nappies, and he had developed a terrible nappy rash as his nappy changes were not happening as they should and he was forced to sit in his soiled nappies for very long periods.

The lady who found Alfie screaming inconsolably in his baby chair (Now his new "mother") immediately unstrapped Alfie upon finding him in this state, she softly cradled him and started talking to him, he started cooing and talking back to her as you would expect a young baby to do. As if he knew that he was safe now, but it was clear that he was still not in a very happy state. She undid his nappy to find that some threads from the cloth nappy had managed to tangle around his penis, and at that stage had already cut deeply into the soft flesh, causing an infection, that needed serious medical care. His nappy rash was so bad that he hardly had skins left on his bottom and he was weak and depressed.

The lady confronted the monkeys owner who eventually agreed that she could take Alfie off his hands (for a price) and seeing that it was the fastest way to get Alfie out of that situation as opposed to waiting for authorities and complying with legal obligations and investigations, she quickly agreed with the man.

Alfie was given the right medical attention, love and care and is still living with his new 'mother' on her farm. His has his own room inside the house filled with his favorite toys and obstacles, with a open window that leads outside to the farm where he can play in the trees and source food for himself as they would in the wild, despite still getting a healthy diet of fruits and other foods in the house. It is important for monkeys to be able to do this as it is part of their natural development, and it aids in maintaining a better balance to his very diverse diet. Despite this Alfie would still go crawl into his mothers bed from time to time for a cuddle, and even though he is a few years old already he still cries for his bottle occasionally. His bottle (normally filled with some yogurt or purified fruit) has become his console and it is believed that it helps him bridge his separation anxiety that stemmed from his younger years.

Alfie can be quite a handful at times especially when he decides to hide your car keys up in a tree or starts 'investigating' the contents of your handbag. His curious nature has lead to childproof locks being installed on every cupboard door, storage cabinet and even the refrigerator... needless to say that he has since figured out how to open the most of them and new ways of keeping Alfie out of the supplies will be installed soon.

Alfie also does his part around the house by keeping the house completely free of any insects and creepy crawlies, as they are simply just delightful snacks to him.

(Above - Alfie taking a selfie of us together)

It is an absolute delight to watch him teasingly play with the dogs, he would tease them and then bounce up out of their reach and chuckle with laughter at their reactions, it certainly keeps the dogs on their toes, and they love and protect Alfie in turn. Alfie would sometimes sit and groom the dogs and even cuddle up to them on cold days, just as they would do in their families in the wild.

I honestly do not think that Alfie could have found a happier place to live given his circumstances