A Shreveport Man is Being Harassed over a Monkey Breeding Scam
Recently, my friend showed me this website with an address right here in Shreveport. I couldn't believe my eyes when I realized this website claimed to be a monkey ranch. The oddest thing, though, is that the address goes to a house.
- According to primatehaven.com, there is a monkey breeding business in Shreveport
- But some quick research will show you that's a lie
- One local man is caught in the crosshairs of this because they claim his house is the business.
Chimps in Shreveport? No Way! Seriously No Way.
My Monkey Home is a website (the URL is primatehaven.com for some reason) that from the front page claims that "We breed Marmoset, Spider Monkey, Capuchin, and Macaque."
The address for My Monkey Home is advertised as "6011 Fern Ave, Shreveport, LA," but if you head to Google Maps and punch in that address, what you'll see from street view and satellite images what looks like a house because it is a house.
An Illegal Monkey Breeding Ring in Shreveport?
The website has a section for "available monkeys" which are all listed for sale. At the time of writing My Monkey Home has 7 spider monkeys, 7 marmoset monkeys, 8 macaque monkeys, and 6 capuchin monkeys. What's boggling my mind is that it's illegal to own any ape as a pet in Louisiana, so I can't imagine breeding and selling chimps out of a residential house in Shreveport isn't much better.
Well, there is no illegal monkey breeding ring in Shreveport, in fact, after getting in contact with the property owner we know what is going on at 6011 Fern Ave. For the sake of privacy, we'll call the property owner by the name of Liam. Liam owns the house, and there's no monkey business (pun only slightly intended), just him and his family.
"Sir, the only monkey that's here is me."
This started about 5 weeks ago Liam says, "A guy stopped by and rang my doorbell and said that he was from South Carolina and he [wanted] to pick up a monkey." Liam told the man he had the wrong address but that didn't stop people from coming.
"The first guy that came by from South Carolina, when he said 'I'm here to buy a Monkey' I told him 'Sir, the only monkey that's here is me'." - Liam, Shreveport Resident
Liam told us that there have been at least 3 people who have come to his door, expecting to purchase a monkey, and the phone calls have been countless. Liam says the number of times he's been contacted by someone in the market for a monkey is becoming "a real problem because more and more people are calling or wanting to stop by."
Are there any Monkeys at All?
Liam has attempted to contact the website's owners in hopes of getting the address corrected, or at least removed so he can go back to a life without any monkey business (pun fully intended). Liam reached out to My Monkey Home through the phone number listed on their website. The phone line to My Monkey Home never picked up but Liam says he got a text soon after, so Liam played coy and asked the man on the other line about buying a monkey.
Liam says, "He said 'What kind of monkey do you want?' and I said 'Well I'm not sure but I live in Shreveport, Lousiana, where can I find one in Shreveport?' and he gave me my address." Liam sent a message explaining that the address listed his is house and requested it be taken down but, as we can all see that has yet to happen.
Liam says he's tried contacting all sorts of people and no one has given him a good answer on what to do, other than getting the authorities involved. But there's no promise that the police could do much about this scam website if it's being hosted overseas, so for now Liam has encouraged people to call the number listed on the website and demand they change it.
Hopefully with enough support (and annoyance) whoever is running this website will find it in them to remove the address.