Animal shelter owner lives at home with six monkeys…and they wear nappies, play with iPads and eat in highchairs just like real kids
The dedicated wildlife lover puts her pets before paying her bills
A MONKEY-obsessed animal lover is raising six of the cheeky creatures in her home - and she puts them before paying off her bills.
The unconventional pets were rescued by 53-year-old Pinky Janota, who teaches, feeds and baths them, and even changes their nappies.
Monkey mad Pinky owns three Rhesus Macaques, one Bonnet and two Marmosets, and they’re all named after makeup brands including Maybelline, L’Oreal and Avon.
Pinky couldn’t resist taking the primates in after discovering that all of them at the facility have been victims of abuse.
She confessed: “Some of them have lost half an ear, some of them have lost parts of their tails or had them amputated.
“Max, his tail was broken in three places and the last two inches were amputated. He is missing half of his ear.”
The cuddly animals have proven the truth behind the phrase ‘monkey see, monkey do’, as they’ve learnt to mimic their owner’s behaviour.
Remarkably, Pinky, who describes herself as the "alpha monkey mum", is even training the pets to read sign language.
She explained: “We are teaching them sign language. Maybelline has nine words down, the other three are learning slowly.
“We have taught them how to turn the TV off and on. Maybelline likes to play bubble pop on the iPad and they know how to open their cages so we have to put little clasps on the cages.
“I do communicate with them as far as the discipline goes. If they are being little stinkers, my actions or showing my teeth or grunting at them shows them that I am the alpha primate.”
Caring Pinky would do anything for her beloved pets – sacrificing paying off her bills and sparing no cost when it comes to their health.
Not only are the wild creatures expensive to keep, the alpha monkey mum confessed that it can be a draining task.
She said: “We do lose a lot of sleep and we go broke a lot of times.
“If it comes to an animal needing a surgery or our electric bill or the mortgage payment - the mortgage bill and the electric bill are out on the back burner and the animal has its surgery.”
To make sure they don’t go bananas, Pinky and the ‘nanny’ Rosanne Gragas, provide a watchful eye over the monkeys for 12-14 hours a day.
Rosanne Gragas said: “With the monkeys it’s pretty much everything.
“It’s getting them up, getting them dressed, getting their diapers changed, their bottles, their breakfast, making them their plates, interacting with them, working on their sign language.
“It’s just like taking care of a baby.”
Related Stories
Even though Pinky has received criticism for keeping the monkeys, she has defended her unusual pets.
She insisted: “We do receive criticism about taking the animals in and my only thought and opinion on this is I didn’t purchase these animals; I didn’t bring them in to the United Sates.
"They are born and bred right here and people are constantly selling them.”
Pinky has been running rescue sanctuary Settlers Pond Shelter in Beecher, Illinois, for 18 years and hopes to expand her services to provide for more monkeys.
She isn't the only animal lover to keep wild creatures in her home.
Raccoons, squirrels and a LION make the list for some of the weirdest pets of all time.
Last year, social media users were shocked when a video of a pet snake swallowing FOUR chickens swept the web.