Two men in Baltimore charged with using exotic animals in photo shoot
Officers indicted the men on multiple counts, after finding more animals in their possession suffering from abuse and neglect.
An online video of women posing with snakes and a monkey inside a ring of fire has seen two Baltimore men arrested and charged with multiple offences.
Filmed on June 30 inside a parking lot at Towson Town Center, the footage prompted undercover officers to set up a photo shoot with Jayden Evans, 25, of Middle River, and Vernon Crowfey III, 32, of Baltimore. Evans had been handling the animals, while Crowfey – owner of Photogeniks photography company – was the photographer.
While at Evans’ apartment, officers found an array of animals, many suffering signs of malnourishment and abuse. According to charging documents obtained by CBS News Baltimore, an iguana, a bearded dragon, a lemur, and a spider monkey had allegedly been tortured and poorly fed.
The documents note that the spider monkey was so malnourished that the “spinal cord was fully exposed through its fur.” As per CBS, Evans told investigators that he hadn’t taken any of the animals in for routine veterinary care.
In the state of Maryland, it is illegal to buy, own, breed, or possess a live non-human primate.
However, a recent report found that online sales are surging across the U.S., with a total of 1,614 primates advertised on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube between June 15 and August 1 last year.
According to the report – published by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – online sales were conducted directly between individuals without any form of certification or regulation required by the platforms, meaning buyers aren’t vetted, and sellers don’t need proof of the legal or sustainable origins of the primates.
Almost three-quarters of primates are classified as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and many of those in the pet trade have been poached illegally from the wild.
Their complex social, emotional, and dietary needs make primates unsuitable for domestication, and they are also susceptible to diseases and viruses, which can be transmitted to humans. Spider monkeys in particular pose physical dangers, too, as they become aggressive when frightened, anxious, or reaching sexual maturity.
Primates from the pet trade cannot be released into the wild, and so require lifelong, specialist care from local organizations. On average, looking after an infant spider monkey over a 30-year lifespan will cost more than $1 million.
The spider monkey owned by Jayden Evans is now under the care of Maryland Zoo, while Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter has taken some of the other confiscated animals.
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