A Prairie Village woman is able to keep her 15-month-old spider monkey but must meet a laundry list of conditions to do so.
The Prairie Village City Council in a 7-4 vote on Monday approved a conditional license that allows Toni Skelton, a longtime resident of the city, to keep her spider monkey, Oakley.
Councilmembers Betsy Lawrence, Terry O’Toole, Nick Reddell and Jim Sellers cast the dissenting votes.
The license comes with 12 conditions, including that the monkey is prohibited from public spaces and that Skelton must provide the city with documentation on where Oakley originates from and the monkey’s birth date.
Skelton told reporters following Monday’s meeting that she doesn’t believe the city council knows what they voted on, and if so, “I think they’re in for a rude awakening because my legal team is already on it right now.”
Skelton said she also believes the city is violating her constitutional rights.
“I don’t know where this is coming from, other than I have read the internal emails from the city that were requested by the Kansas City Star, and I believe they’re in for a rude awakening,” Skelton said.
The city previously looked at banning all monkeys outright before considering a conditional license that would allow Oakley, the only known monkey inside city limits, to continue living here.
Monkey owner says inspections invade her privacy
The final of the 12 conditions allows the city or contractors to show up at Skelton’s home for annual inspections or visits if the city receives concerns about the spider monkey.
This condition was originally worded in city documents to allow the city or contractors to show up to Skelton’s home without prior notice. The city council changed that language to require notice.
Skelton told reporters after the vote that she takes issue with this specific condition as it relates to her private life. She said animal activists and others have already “been on this,” which further disrupts her privacy.
“They get to go and go home and sleep tonight,” Skelton said. “I will never be able to sleep because I will always have activists. I will always have those people after me.”
Skelton said she signed up for a lifetime with Oakley, and she always planned to keep her.
A look at the other conditions
The other 12 conditions touch upon rules already on the books for allowing dangerous or potentially dangerous animals, such as requiring Skelton to provide proof of at least $300,000 worth of liability insurance on the monkey.
Some of the conditions that are specific to the monkey include the following, as outlined in city documents:
- No other monkeys of any species may be brought into the city as it relates to interacting with Oakley.
- If the monkey bites or scratches a human or a domestic animal and a local or state health department orders euthanization and/or examination of the monkey, Skelton must comply.
- Skelton must provide documentation related to the acquisition of Oakley (a point the city council debated, but ultimately kept in the list of conditions).
- Oakley is prohibited on public property.
Oakley can only be off-leash in Prairie Village if she is at her home and is in an enclosure of sorts that she cannot escape. She must also be spayed no later than July 2027.
Next steps:
- This conditional license goes into effect on April 1.
- Skelton must renew her pet license for Oakley to renew this conditional license.
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