The city of Prairie Village is considering banning all monkey species — with one potential exception.
After two discussions in the last month about an outright monkey ban, the Prairie Village City Council on Dec. 1 signaled interest in making an exception for one spider monkey, Oakley, who currently lives in the city with her owner, Toni Skelton.
Skelton told the Shawnee Mission East Harbinger earlier this year that she first obtained Oakley in September 2024. City staff confirmed to the Post that Skelton got Oakley licensed through the city in April 2025.
The proposed monkey ban is coming back before the city council for a third discussion at a future meeting. This time, the ban will appear with an option for a conditional license that would allow Oakley to legally remain in Prairie Village, even with a monkey ban in place.
In the meantime, Skelton can keep Oakley in her Prairie Village home.
A look at the proposed ban
Currently, Prairie Village’s animal code allows monkey species whose adult weight is 20 pounds or less. (Oakley weighs 2 pounds, according to the Harbinger report.)
The proposed updated language bans all monkey species, no matter the adult weight. This language mirrors animal codes in a majority of neighboring cities, with exceptions like the city of Shawnee that allow small monkeys with a special use permit for pet shops.
Some organizations support such bans for residential areas, including the Kansas Animal Control Association, Zoo Associations, the Humane Society of the United States and the Doctors of Veterinary Medicine, according to city documents.
On Nov. 17, the city council discussed increasing the time Skelton might need to rehome Oakley. The city council also discussed helping Skelton with rehoming options at that time.
By Dec. 1, with four newly sworn-in city councilmembers, the city council leaned toward banning all monkeys but making an exception for Oakley who is already licensed and lives in Prairie Village.
The city council on Dec. 1 in a 10-1 vote directed city staff to come back with a conditional license that would allow Oakley to remain in Prairie Village — even with a ban in place — under certain, undetermined terms. Councilmember Lori Sharp was absent.
Councilmember Terry O’Toole cast the lone dissenting vote, citing expert associations who recommend against allowing monkeys in residential areas.
“I keep coming back to, if it’s not a good idea to have in a residential area, and if everybody who knows way more about this than I do says it’s not a good idea to have it, it is hard for me to vote and say, ‘Everybody that knows about this says it’s not good, I know it’s not good, but they gave a nice story and I’m sure this one will be different,’” O’Toole said.
“I couldn’t live with myself if something happened and I voted to grandfather this in,” O’Toole added.
“A member of our family”
Skelton, Oakley’s owner, told the city council on Monday that rehoming the spider monkey would be devastating for everyone involved.
Skelton said she and her family, including her fiancé, Tony Wallace, and son, Bronson Skelton, have adjusted their entire lives to meet Oakley’s needs.
The decision to get Oakley was years in the making and a “lifelong commitment,” Skelton said.
“She is a member of our family who depends on me every hour of every day,” Skelton said. “Uprooting her now would be harmful to her and heartbreaking to us.”
Skelton told the city council she has followed the city’s licensing process and that “retroactively” making her follow a newly proposed law puts her family in a “devastating” position.
All seven of the public commenters — including Skelton and three members of her family — who spoke about Oakley asked the city council to allow her to remain in Prairie Village.
This included Bronson, Skelton’s son, who said it would be difficult to walk into his home and not immediately be greeted by Oakley.
“As soon as she (his mom) brought Oakley home, me and Oakley bonded, like immediately,” Bronson said. “And I just don’t want anyone or anything to get in the way of that.”
There are two incidents with the monkey thus far
Police Chief Eric McCullough previously told the city council on Nov. 17 that there was at least one incident involving Oakley.
McCullough said Oakley, who was off-leash at the time, scratched a young child at a city park one day.
Wallace, Skelton’s fiancé and co-owner of Oakley, told the city council on Dec. 1 that this was an accident. He said that the child’s mother told animal control — who was called by a third party, not by the mother of the scratched child — that Oakley was playing.
Outside of that, McCullough on Nov. 17 also mentioned that Skelton took Oakley to the city’s annual JazzFest celebration at Harmon Park and was asked to take the monkey home.
In response to that concern, Wallace told the city council on Monday that Skelton and Oakley did not go inside JazzFest and that Oakley was inside a pet stroller that was covered and locked.
Instead, the pair spoke to a booth that sold monkey-themed artwork and a nearby officer told Skelton no animals were allowed inside the festival. Wallace said Skelton and Oakley “left immediately.”
The city council will revisit this issue
City staff plans to bring back an updated change to the animal code that still bans all monkeys, but allows an exception for Oakley to legally remain in her Prairie Village home.
City Attorney Alex Aggen told the city council on Monday that this can likely be accomplished through a conditional license.
A conditional license would allow Oakley to stay in Prairie Village despite a ban on all monkey species, but it would also include certain requirements such as keeping Oakley on a leash.
The specific requirements and the potential conditional license are planned to come back to a future city council meeting.
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