LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Two men face multiple charges of animal cruelty after 15 monkeys they tried to ship from South America to Asia died in transit, Los Angeles prosecutors said.
Florida animal broker Robert Matson Conyers, 44, appeared in court Wednesday in lieu of arrest and is due back in court in Van Nuys, Calif., Oct. 6, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A warrant is out for the arrest of Akhtar Hussain, who is thought to be in Guyana.
Prosecutors said the two men shipped 25 monkeys from Guyana to a buyer in Bangkok in 2008, by way of Miami, Los Angeles and China. The shipment was refused in China and sent back to Los Angeles, and during that trip 15 of the monkeys died from starvation and hypothermia.
Los Angeles Zoo veterinarians treated the monkeys, which included 14 marmosets, five white-fronted capuchins and six squirrel monkeys. The surviving animals are being cared for at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
The men each face 10 counts of animal cruelty. If convicted on all counts both could face as much as five years in prison and a $200,000 fine.
(Source: UPI )
http://www.istockanalyst.com/b...ne-for-monkey-deaths
Florida animal broker Robert Matson Conyers, 44, appeared in court Wednesday in lieu of arrest and is due back in court in Van Nuys, Calif., Oct. 6, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A warrant is out for the arrest of Akhtar Hussain, who is thought to be in Guyana.
Prosecutors said the two men shipped 25 monkeys from Guyana to a buyer in Bangkok in 2008, by way of Miami, Los Angeles and China. The shipment was refused in China and sent back to Los Angeles, and during that trip 15 of the monkeys died from starvation and hypothermia.
Los Angeles Zoo veterinarians treated the monkeys, which included 14 marmosets, five white-fronted capuchins and six squirrel monkeys. The surviving animals are being cared for at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
The men each face 10 counts of animal cruelty. If convicted on all counts both could face as much as five years in prison and a $200,000 fine.
(Source: UPI )
http://www.istockanalyst.com/b...ne-for-monkey-deaths
