Monkey hate is a form of

sadism Sadism may refer to: * Everyday sadism, the derivation of gratification from the physical pain or humiliation of another person * Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliatio ...

where humans have a hatred for

monkeys Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

and take pleasure in their suffering. The phenomenon drew public attention after a global monkey torture ring was uncovered by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 2023.

Occurrence and arrests

Videos of monkeys being tortured or abused have been commonly uploaded to

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

platforms such as

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. 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. Video titles have often contained

broken English Broken English is a term often used to describe non-standard, non-traditionally spoken or alternatively-written version of the English language. This term is often considered derogatory and has been used to invalidate non-standard or "low pre ...

phrases such as "million pity" and "million sadness". Baby

macaque The macaques () constitute a genus (''Macaca'') of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and Europe (in Gibraltar). Macaques are principally f ...

monkeys are primarily targeted for abuse. Monkeys are often referred to within monkey hate communities as "tree rats". In 2021, a United States-based

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

monkey torture group, Million Tears, was closed down after being brought to public attention. The group had about thirty members, who would pay owners of monkeys to carry out abuse on them. 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") and two British women, Holly LeGresley and Adriana Orme. Two Indonesian men also received prison sentences for their involvement. "Mr. Ape", the pseudonymous leader of the group, has not been publicly identified.

Animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

organizations such as Action for Primates and Lady Freethinker have been involved in investigating monkey hate groups.

Causes

According to SMACC,

long-tailed macaque The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque or cynomolgus macaque, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. As a synanthropic species, the crab-eating macaque thrives near human settleme ...

s 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 PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

with no or inadequate legal protection. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' 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".

References

{{reflist Cruelty to animals Monkeys Primates and humans Zoosadism Filmed crimes

Occurrence and arrests

Causes

See also

References