Monkey hate#Occurrence and arrests
{{Short description|Sadistic hatred of monkeys involving pleasure in their suffering}}
Monkey hate is a form of sadism where humans have a hatred for monkeys and take pleasure in their suffering.{{cite web | last=Messamore | first=W. E. | title=YouTube Has a Vile Monkey Torture Community That Needs Nuking | website=CCN.com | date=2020-02-29 | url=https://www.ccn.com/youtube-has-a-vile-monkey-torture-community-that-needs-nuking/ | access-date=2024-07-04}} The phenomenon drew public attention after a global monkey torture ring was uncovered by the BBC in 2023.{{cite web | title=Hunting the monkey torturers | last=Ajengrastri | first=Astudestra | last2=Gunter | first2=Joel | last3=Henschke | first3=Rebecca | website=BBC News | date=2023-06-19 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/Iot1dIWVS5/hunting-the-monkey-torturers | access-date=2024-07-04}}
Baby macaque monkeys are primarily targeted.{{cite web | last=Freethinker | first=Lady | title=YouTube ‘Monkey Haters’ Form Private Group Where Members Are Paying to Have Baby Monkeys Tortured and Killed on Camera | website=Lady Freethinker | date=2021-08-06 | url=https://ladyfreethinker.org/youtube-monkey-haters-form-private-group-where-members-are-paying-to-have-baby-monkeys-tortured-and-killed-on-camera/ | access-date=2024-07-04}} Monkeys are often referred to within monkey hate communities as "tree rats".
Occurrence and arrests
Videos of monkeys being tortured or abused have been commonly uploaded to social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. According to a September 2021–May 2023 study by Asia for Animals’ Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC), videos by pet macaque owners had a total of 12.05 billion views online, with 12 percent of these videos involving intentional physical torture, 13 percent involving psychological abuse, and 60 percent involving direct physical abuse.{{cite web | last=Dalton | first=Jane | title=Social media users abusing monkeys in sickening videos for money and hits | website=The Independent | date=2023-09-21 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/monkey-videos-social-media-youtube-b2412555.html | access-date=2024-07-04 | quote=Macaques - used because of perceived close similarities to human babies – are forced to suffer sexual abuse, dismembering and immersion in freezing cold or boiling hot water, the report says.}}{{cite web | title=The Cruelty You Don't See: The suffering of pet macaques for social media content | website=World Animal Protection | date=2023-09-18 | url=https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/latest/press-releases/cruelty-you-dont-see-suffering-pet-macaques-social-media-content/ | access-date=2024-07-04}} Video titles have often contained broken English phrases such as "million pity" and "million sadness".{{cite web | last=Ajengrastri | first=Astudestra | last2=Gunter | first2=Joel | last3=Henschke | first3=Rebecca | title=Video penyiksaan monyet: Investigasi BBC bongkar komunitas pembenci monyet internasional yang memesan video penyiksaan ke orang-orang di Indonesia | website=BBC News Indonesia | date=2023-06-19 | url=https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/articles/c72mrr092g2o | language=id | access-date=2024-07-05}}
In 2021, a United States-based Telegram monkey torture group, Million Tears, was closed down after being brought to public attention.{{cite web | last=Geiger | first=Gabriel | title=People Buy Custom Baby Monkey Torture Videos on World’s Worst Forum | website=VICE | date=2021-08-13 | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/people-buy-custom-baby-monkey-torture-videos-on-worlds-worst-forum/ | access-date=2024-07-04}} The group had about thirty members, who would pay owners of monkeys to carry out abuse on them.{{cite web | last=Bancroft | first=Holly | title=Baby monkeys tortured and killed in videos posted on US-based chat group | website=The Independent | date=2021-08-11 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/southeast-asia/youtube-group-monkey-torture-indonesia-b1900135.html | access-date=2024-07-04}} In 2023, a continuation of the group, Ape's Cage, which involved around four hundred members, was uncovered by the BBC. Video operators who carried out the monkey torture were primarily based in Indonesia, while the members of the group were largely American and from other Western countries. Torture methods ranged from submerging monkeys in ice water to killing them in blenders, sawing them in half, or cutting off their tails and limbs.
Several notable members of Ape's Cage have been arrested, including American Michael McCartney (known as "Torture King"){{cite web | last=Gunter | first=Joel | last2=Henschke | first2=Rebecca | title=Ringleader of global monkey torture network, 'The Torture King', is charged | website=BBC Home | date=2024-04-03 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68716467 | access-date=2024-07-04}} and two British women, Holly LeGresley and Adriana Orme.{{cite web | last=Lawson | first=Eleanor | last2=Henschke | first2=Joel Gunter & Rebecca | title=Kidderminster woman pleads guilty to role in monkey torture network | website=BBC Home | date=2024-05-07 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-68968718 | access-date=2024-07-04}}{{cite web | last=Carter | first=Sarah | title=Monkey torture video ring with suspects and customers in U.S. exposed by BBC investigation | website=CBS News | date=2023-06-20 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monkey-torture-video-ring-social-media-us-suspects-exposed-bbc-investigation/ | access-date=2024-07-04}} Two Indonesian men also received prison sentences for their involvement.{{cite web | last=Odeen-Isbister | first=Sara | title=Global monkey torture ring paying people to abuse animals uncovered | website=Metro | date=2023-06-20 | url=https://metro.co.uk/2023/06/20/global-monkey-torture-ring-paying-people-to-abuse-animals-uncovered-18982477/ | access-date=2024-07-05}} "Mr. Ape", the pseudonymous leader of the group, has not been publicly identified.
Animal welfare organizations such as Action for Primates and Lady Freethinker have been involved in investigating monkey hate groups.
Causes
According to SMACC, long-tailed macaques are particularly targeted for abuse, in part due to negative opinions of them in countries where they are native. Negative interactions between humans and wild macaques have increased as humans take over monkey habitats. Macaques are often condemned as pests with no or inadequate legal protection.{{cite web | title=The cruelty you don't see: The suffering of pet macaques for social media content | website=SMACC | url=https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.nz/siteassets/documents/reports/smacc-spotlight-report-macaques-as-pets_compressed.pdf | page=53-55 | access-date=2024-07-06 | quote=Long-tailed macaques are particularly targeted, partly due to existing negative opinions of this species in range states. Negative interactions between people and free-living longtailed macaques have increased in several countries, due to human activities such as the destruction of monkey habitat for use as human settlements and crop production, which has brought humans and macaques in greater proximity to each other, sometimes resulting in conflict.[49] The species is often condemned as a “pest” with no or inadequate legal protection.[50]}}
The Independent reported that macaques are used in abuse videos "because of perceived close similarities to human babies". According to Chief Inspector Kevin Lacks-Kelly from the British National Wildlife Crime Unit, people who consume monkey torture content generally defend their actions as caused by a "hatred for pregnant women or small children".{{cite web | last=Stephens | first=Max | title=I took my hatred of babies and women out on monkeys, claims female recluse behind torture ring | website=The Telegraph | date=2024-11-13 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/13/took-out-hatred-babies-monkeys-claims-woman-torture-ring/ | access-date=2025-06-27| quote= Ch Insp Kevin Lacks-Kelly, from the NWCU, said LeGresley had deliberately targeted infant macaques because they were the closest animal substitute to humans. He told The Telegraph: “The general defence, almost that we have seen on a global scale, is that this ‘product’ is consumed because there’s a general hatred for pregnant women or small children.
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