[monkeywire] Moe, the educated chimp, still homeless
Carrie McLaren
carrie@stayfreemagazine.org
Sat, 11 May 2002 18:07:45 -0500
Los Angeles Times
May 10, 2002 Friday Home Edition
HEADLINE: Los Angeles;
2 Cities Can't Get the Hang of Chimp's Situation;
Animals: Moe, a skilled performer, was all set to move when it became
clear one municipality didn't know what the other was doing.
BYLINE: CARA MIA DiMASSA, mgrundmann rimmed
BODY:
Call it the tale of two cities and one chimp.
In West Covina and Baldwin Park on Thursday, city councils held
emergency meetings to decide what to do about Moe, a 36-year-old
chimpanzee exiled from one city and apparently headed for the other.
Moe, who was once named an honorary citizen of West Covina, has been
living at the Wildlife Waystation in the Angeles National Forest
since late 1999, when he was removed from his home for biting a
woman's finger and, a year earlier, seriously injuring the hand of a
police officer who had chased Moe when he escaped.
Ever since, Moe's fate has been a contentious issue in West Covina,
even propelling Moe's owner, St. James Davis, into a failed bid for
political office. Davis and his wife, Ladonna, sued the city, and in
a settlement finally announced this week, the couple agreed to move
Moe to an industrial part of Baldwin Park, across from a county
animal shelter. West Covina would buy the site and lease it to them
for $1, under the settlement terms.
But there was a hitch: Apparently no one told Baldwin Park officials
about the deal.
"We had no warning from our city attorney, and none of our staff
knew," said Baldwin Park City Councilwoman Linda Gair.
Baldwin Park's attorney is Arnold Glasman. He also is West Covina's
city attorney.
Glasman called a meeting of the Baldwin Park City Council on Thursday
night to explain his actions regarding Moe on behalf of West Covina.
Hours earlier, however, the West Covina City Council had met in
emergency session and decided to take back its offer to the Davises,
with a letter of apology to its neighbor. West Covina's mayor, city
manager and a city council member delivered the letter personally.
The Davises, who relied on Moe's television and film work as a
substantial part of their income, said the city overreacted three
years ago when officials removed him from their home the day after he
bit a visitor's finger.
They hired attorney Gloria Allred and collected nearly 60,000
signatures on a petition demanding Moe's return.
"They took away the breadwinner of my family," St. James Davis, a
former NASCAR driver, said Thursday. "He got taken away for something
he didn't even do. Sure, he bit a police officer a long time ago, but
... the person who claims she lost her finger has all of her fingers."
Under the settlement in the Davises' 3-year-old civil rights lawsuit,
West Covina agreed to pay them $100,000. Davis said that the city
also agreed to buy an air-conditioned building, in the 4200 block of
North Elton Street, for Moe. That sounded like the perfect solution
to Davis. He intended to build a habitat, a place that others could
visit and learn about the chimp whom Davis rescued in Tanzania in the
late 1960s after Moe's mother was killed by poachers.
"I wanted to put in a waterfall, a trampoline and a TV," he said. "He
has no TV where he is at, he can't wear his clothes where he is at,
and he can't make any money where he is at."
[...]
West Covina City Manager Andrew Pasmant said the city still intends
to live up to the terms of the settlement, with this exception: The
Davises must find suitable housing for Moe, and West Covina will pay
for it.
Davis, who visits Moe at least once a week at the Wildlife
Waystation, said he's concerned that the chimpanzee he raised, who
can write his own name and is potty-trained, is now living in a cage.
"Moe is used to getting hugged and kissed all day ... but now all of
his schooling and education has stopped. They only let us stay 10 or
15 minutes at most."
In the Baldwin Park council meeting Thursday, Davis wore a blue
ribbon Moe had received after riding in the 1972 Baldwin Park
anniversary parade. Davis had hoped the evening would turn out
differently.
"I kind of thought maybe it was a kind of homecoming. He'd be an
asset to any community."