July 2005
Children bitten by monkey at circus
In July 2005, a five-year-old girl was injured by a monkey at Circus New York while it was in County Kerry. The macaque monkey was kept on a lead and brought into the ring for people to pay and have their photo taken next to him. The girl’s mother claimed the monkey jumped on her daughter’s back, scratching and biting her before a circus worker beat the monkey off with a stick.
The circus said the girl had entered an area off-limits to the public, although the girl’s mother denies this.
The monkey was apparently used again in the next show.
Following the media coverage of this incident, three more people came forward claiming the monkey had also attacked them, on different occasions in 2005.
CAPS contacted Kerry County Council to ask if it was investigating. It replied that any investigation was the responsibility of the Health and Safety Authority, but when CAPS rang the HSA it claimed it was the council’s responsibility. The council continued to deny this and eventually suggested that CAPS ring the local Garda. Five months after CAPS contacted the Garda it responded, stating that it was not pressing charges in relation to the incident as the parents of children injured had not made formal complaints.