Monkeys in pirate costumes confiscated from autistic woman

State wildlife officials confiscated four monkeys from an autistic woman from Florida last weekend on Bourbon Street. 64-year-old Joan Newberger said the monkeys were confiscated illegally, because they’re her “service monkeys.” But the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries categorizes them as illegally-owned primates, saying they don't believe the monkeys meet the definition of service animals that’s spelled out in the Americans with Disabilities Act. You see all kinds of things on Bourbon Street during Carnival, including drag queens in costume, but what you don't typically see is a woman in a pirate costume with four live monkeys, also dressed in pirate costumes.

“We were dressing up for the Mardi Gras and we dress up as pirates,” said James Poole, caretaker for Newberger. Poole said letters show doctors in Texas and in Florida have diagnosed Newberger with a form of autism, and for years, she's traveled everywhere with the four monkeys. Newberger said they're registered with a group in Texas as her service monkeys, like a seeing eye dog, only they help her with other tasks, like bathing.



“I can't vacuum. I can't be in water. I don't, none of that. My feet are real itchy now. My, everything bothering me,” Newberger said. She said she’s reacting to not having her service monkeys, that according to Poole, calm her down. The two said wildlife agents and police didn’t tell her she couldn’t have the monkeys in the French Quarter until the moment they seized them. “They didn't give us no warning. They say look you need this paperwork, I'd say, fine. I'll go get it. We don't have a problem with it,” Newberger said.

But wildlife officials tell a different story. “What we found was a couple that was, I don't know what you would call them, street vendors, street performers, they were in costume with four monkeys. The monkeys were in costume,” said Maria Davidson, Large Carnivore Program Manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Wildlife officials said they received complaints that Joan and her caretaker were here on Bourbon Street taking money for pictures with the monkeys.

With news video.