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[Josh Greenman <joshg1973 AT yahoo.com>]

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_10822737.shtml

Woman, monkey offered refuge in Oconto County

By Jose de Jesus
jdejesus AT greenbaypressgazette.com

Green Bay resident Tracie Cornelius and her monkey have been offered asylum 
in Oconto
County.

Diana Janssen, former animal control officer for the town of Mountain, said 
Jasper the
monkey is more than welcome in the town, specifically at her home, since 
Janssen’s moving
to the Manitowoc area.

“I live on a dead-end road where it’s nice and quiet, I have nothing but 
woods all around
me and I have an addition where an animal can go outside … and still get 
fresh air and
everything but be safe, which would be great for this lady’s monkey,” said 
Janssen, who
left her post about a month ago. 

Janssen said she would sell or rent her home to Cornelius.

Cornelius has been denied a permit that would allow Jasper to live with her 
in Green Bay.

If she can’t get a permit, Cornelius said, she would consider moving to 
Mountain.

“I would look into it, and I would definitely call her,” Cornelius said. “If 
they know
about it, and (Jasper) is there and they are welcoming him, I’d be more than 
welcome to
move. I would move for Jasper.”

Jasper, who remains at an undisclosed location in Brown County, got loose in 
April when
he slipped out a door at the Rock City Pub on Main Street while Cornelius 
visited
friends. Jasper was later found after his owner made media appearances and 
calls to the
police.

But police said Cornelius was illegally harboring an exotic animal and issued 
her two
citations — one for having an animal without a permit and another for having 
an animal at
large. Each carries a fine of $658. She recently pleaded not guilty to both 
counts and is
awaiting a pre-trial conference on Tuesday. 

“In our county you can have an alligator in your front yard, and they don’t 
care,”
Janssen said. “It would be a perfect place for her to have her monkey, and as 
long as he
has his rabies shot, nobody cares.”

If Cornelius accepts Janssen’s offer, she might be the first one in the town 
to have a
monkey.

“I don’t think there’s any monkeys around, but they have everything else,” 
Janssen said.
“We got prairie dogs, we got llamas, horses, you name it.”

Janssen said she doesn’t understand why the city won’t issue Cornelius the 
permit.

“It’s not bothering anybody; she keeps it under control,” Janssen said. “If 
it was biting
people and running at large all the time, then I can see why there might be a 
problem,
but this is the only time that this has ever happened.”