Justin Bieber Monkey Care Will Cost the Singer, After Pet was Quarantined in Munich
The monkey business never ends for Justin Bieber.
The 19-year-old singer is being asked to pay a Munich animal shelter for the care of his confiscated pet monkey, officials said Friday.
The pop star's capuchin Mally was quarantined in the shelter after it was taken by German customs officials on March 28. Bieber, who was touring Europe at the time, had not obtained the proper paper work and vaccinations, and the monkey was removed from his care.
Spokeswoman for the Munich shelter Roberta Mioni Coltro did not specify the exact amount Bieber would need to pay, but The Associated Press reported the bill may be as much as several thousands euros.
Officials said Bieber must pick up Mally from German customs by Friday midnight or it will be moved to a zoo or animal sanctuary within the country.
Thomas Meister, a German customs spokesman, told the AP, "If no further documents arrive then the seizure order comes into effect and the animal becomes the property of the German state."
Shelter officials claimed they have made attempts to contact Bieber to return the monkey, but have been unable to reach him or his representatives.
"Our contact is the person that the monkey belongs to," said Meister. "We've had contact with lots of people but none of them was an authorized representative. "[But] you can bet we are going to ask for that money back."
Shelter officials criticized Bieber's decision to keep capuchin monkeys as pets. They argued that the young monkey should not have been removed from its mother so early, and the sociable animal needs to be kept in a group.
"The best thing would be not to buy one at all, but if you do, buy five," said Karl Heinz Joachim, the Munich animal shelter's manager.
Bieber last performed in Johannesburg on May 12 and will play at the Billboard Music Awards this Sunday in Las Vegas. He is set to resume his Believe tour in San Diego on June 22.
