Stylish Canadian monkey triggers Internet frenzy

Stylish Canadian monkey triggers Internet frenzy

OTTAWA - Agence France-Presse

In this Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012 photo provided by Bronwyn Page, a small monkey wearing a winter coat and a diaper wanders around at an IKEA in Toronto. The monkey let itself out of its crate in a parked car and went for a walk. The animal's owner contacted police later in the day and was reunited with their pet, police said. (AP Photo/Bronwyn Page via The Canadian Press)

A stylishly-attired monkey became an instant Internet celebrity, and triggered an animal welfare investigation, when it was found wandering in a Canadian furniture store car park.
 
The months-old rhesus macaque, named Darwin, spent the night at an animal shelter in Toronto after he was found wandering around an IKEA lot wearing a sheepskin coat on Sunday afternoon.
 
Darwin apparently opened his crate and the door of his owner's vehicle and went for a stroll. His adventure, however, didn't stop there.
 
Snap-happy Canadians took photographs of the cute critter and posted them online and Darwin immediately became a viral sensation on social media.
 

AP Photo 

His image was pasted into mockups of the IKEA catalogue, atop Toronto's CN Tower, in Canada's parliament seated next to the prime minister and elsewhere.
 
A prankster registered a Twitter account in Darwin's name, writing: "I'm way over dressed for this animal shelter" and "There's a cat giving me weird looks... What do I do?" Outside Canada's parliament, opposition MP Chris Charlton evoked the monkey in swipes at the government: "

"Conservatives are as lost as a monkey in an IKEA. Though at least the monkey was wearing a coat to cover his shame." But animal welfare authorities were less amused.
 
Mary Lou Leiher of Toronto's Animal Services said: "He's not very happy right now. He's comfortable, but he's having a bad day." Canada is no place for a rhesus macaque, she told a press conference.

"It's a very exotic choice for a pet," she said. "Common sense would say, 'Get a dog.'" Darwin's owners have reportedly been slapped with a Can$240 (187 euro) fine for owning a prohibited exotic pet and Animal Services is now looking for a new home for Darwin at an animal sanctuary.