Read the original article by Jimmy McCloskey at metro.co.uk here.
Monkeys, lemurs, birds and tortoises were stolen from an animal sanctuary after a prankster wrote that it was closing on Craigslist and invited people to take them away.
Seven lemurs, five marmosets, four monkeys, seven birds and 13 tortoises were taken from the We Care Wildlife Sanctuary in Miami, Fl., during Saturday and Sunday after the false post was uploaded.
It read: ‘Free exotic animals. I’m not longer staying in business I can’t take care of these animals. I have lemurs, marmosets, tortoise, African grays, macaws, horses etc. First come first serve.
‘We’re a sanctuary going out of business. If I’m not there just go around back and take what you want.’
But volunteer Cindy Robert has appealed for those who took the creatures to return them, saying many require medication and will die if they do not get it.
She said: ‘Please, just bring them back, because they need to be safe and cared for properly.’ Another volunteer who works there told 7News how the thefts occurred, saying: ‘They unscrewed this bolt off of the actual mechanism that holds the fence together, because cause they couldn’t cut the lock, I guess.
‘And then they cut all this out, and then they just pushed the fence out.’
The sanctuary recently moved to a new address, and no surveillance cameras had been installed at its new premises.
A friend of co-owner Armando Mendez, who runs the sanctuary with partner Josue Santiago said on hearing the news: ‘OMG HE LOVES THESE ANIMALS.
‘He has been on the animal show.
‘He rescues so many animals. I hope he finds the ASSHOLES WHO TOOK HIS BABIES.’
