PETA urges USDA to revoke licence of Chris Brown’s notorious monkey dealer
PETA has sent a letter to the US Department of Agriculture urging them to revoke Chris Brown’s monkey dealer’s license to sell exotic animals.
According to court documents, Jimmy Wayne Hammonds (aka “The Monkey Whisperer”) conspired to sell Brown a capuchin monkey between 2017 and 2018, even though possession of the primate is illegal in California.
Documents also read that Hammonds was paid $12,000 for the monkey. Law enforcement later seized the monkey from Brown’s California residence.
The Florida-based exotic-animal dealer pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the illegal sale and transport of primates.
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Now, PETA has sent a letter to the USDA, in hopes of revoking the dealer’s Animal Welfare Act (AWA) license permantely. Without the license, Hammonds could no longer legally sell exotic animals for the pet trade.
“Revoking the license of a convicted wildlife trafficker is just common sense, and it’s necessary to protect the animals still in his clutches from being sold as ‘pets,’” PETA Foundation Associate Director Michelle Sinnott said. “PETA urges the USDA to cancel this felon’s license so he can’t treat monkeys as merchandise.”
This has been the most recent case involving the controversial R&B singer. Last year, Brown was under police investigation after a woman alleged the musician, 32, had “smacked the back of her head so hard her weave came off”.
At the time, police were called to his home in San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, where the alleged victim showed no evidence of injury.
However, Brown’s misdemeanour charge was ultimately dismissed, Rolling Stone reports. “It was rejected because of insufficient evidence,” commented a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Rob Wilcox, providing no further statement.
Brown has been accused of assault multiple times in the past. A sexual lawsuit was brought against Brown in 2018 when a woman identified only as Jane Doe alleged she was raped by another guest at a party hosted by Brown in 2017. She filed a lawsuit the following year, with a dismissal occurring in 2020 after Brown settled out of court.
Also in 2017, Brown’s ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran was awarded a restraining order against Brown after he allegedly “told a few people that he was going to kill me” and said that he was going to “take me out” and “shoot me”, according to Tran.
Brown was notably convicted in 2009 for assaulting his then-girlfriend Rihanna. The singer was sentenced to five years’ probation and 180 days of community labour and was required to attend a domestic violence counselling programme for one year.