Ohio agriculture department forces TikToker to give up monkey

CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Rico Exotic has ever loved animals.

“Growing up successful poverty, you extremity up becoming a merchandise of that poverty,” helium said. “To support maine from warring my intelligence issues similar depression, anxiousness paranoia that comes from being successful that environment, animals was my mode to cope."

The 22-year-old’s existent sanction is not Rico Exotic but helium didn’t privation WEWS to usage his afloat name. He grew up successful Cleveland and said the nickname "Rico Exotic" caught connected arsenic radical recognized his emotion for immoderate and each animal.

“I rescued 1 of the raccoons [from a neighbor] and that’s erstwhile they started calling maine Rico Exotic.”

Eventually, the fig of animals helium owned grew.

“I had a raccoon, degus, coatimundi, lemur, and my monkey, Mike,” helium said.

When Rico posted his grivet monkey, Mike, connected TikTok a twelvemonth ago, his pursuing grew, too.

He present has 1.5 cardinal followers and much than 35.5 cardinal likes connected TikTok and 117,000 followers connected Instagram. He shows viewers however helium cares and bonds with the animals successful the videos.

“I springiness them a harmless place. I springiness Mike a harmless place,” helium said. “A batch of radical enactment what I bash and respect what I do.”

But earlier this month, the Ohio Department of Agriculture received a extremity astir his monkey. They raided his Northeast Ohio location connected Nov. 17.

“I turned the country to my room and determination are 5 firearms successful my look and constabulary shields. I was truthful confused due to the fact that I didn’t cognize what I perchance did to origin this,” helium said. “They cuff me, past I’m asking like, ‘What did I do?’ and they’re like, ‘Where’s the monkey?'”

The Ohio Department of Agriculture classifies Mike, a grivet monkey, arsenic a unsafe chaotic animal. A spokesperson for the bureau said that Rico did not person a unsafe chaotic carnal licence for him.

Rico was not alert that grivet monkeys were classified arsenic unsafe nether Ohio law. He said helium thought helium was doing everything right.

“It’s not clear. It don’t accidental grivet monkeys connected there,” helium said. “I didn’t privation to interruption the instrumentality and past station it connected societal media truthful I tin get targeted.”

ODA’s Division of Animal Health enactment Mike nether quarantine portion searching for an capable sanctuary for him. Rico said helium wasn’t fixed wide instructions for the timeline of quarantine and what to bash with Mike.

“They told maine I had to get him retired of the authorities oregon they were going to travel backmost and instrumentality him,” said Rico.

He said helium didn’t privation the authorities to instrumentality Mike, truthful helium took him to an carnal rescue successful Tennessee.

Rico said it was a hard goodbye.

“This concern is precise captious connected some of us. When I’m down oregon I’m feeling sad, Mike knows. He wouldn’t fto maine spell the full night, helium held onto me.”

But due to the fact that Rico violated quarantine orders, he’s present successful much occupation with the state.

“Which is benignant of confusing due to the fact that I had to get him retired of the state. How could I bash so?” helium asked.

He’s hired a lawyer to combat the charges against him but conscionable wants to beryllium reunited with Mike.

“It whitethorn look that it’s a favored to anyone other like, ‘Oh it’s conscionable a monkey, get escaped of him,’ that’s not the case. I look astatine him arsenic my son. I took him in. He was abandoned.”

He started a GoFundMe leafage to rise wealth to get his animals retired of the authorities and unfastened an carnal sanctuary.

“So, I tin relocate and I tin get maine a caller location and person a harmless spot for maine and my animals legally.”

The ODA said the substance is an unfastened investigation. For a database of animals considered unsafe successful Ohio, click here.

This communicative was primitively published by Jessi Schultz astatine WEWS.