Texas Police Seize Pet Spider Monkey From Influencer After Drunk Driving Crash

Brandi Botello is an Instagram Influencer who lives in the Dallas-area. Botello also owns a spider monkey which also has thousands of followers on Instagram where you can find pictures of the monkey wearing pajamas, taking baths, and doing other funny monkey type things.

But this past weekend, Dallas Police seized the monkey, named Jorgie Boy, after Botello was involved in a single-vehicle accident and was charged with driving while intoxicated.

According to a report from NBC News, Botello claims that she wasn't driving at the time of the accident and that she had passed out in the passenger seat while holding the spider monkey. Botello told NBC that after the accident she "hopped over to the driver's seat", but didn't explain why.

The nearly 3-year-old monkey, along with the humans in the car did not sustain any injuries.

Jorgie Boy The Monkey Taken By Police

In Texas, you can own some exotic animals. That includes monkeys with all the right permits. But the City of Irving, where Botello lives, bans wild animals. Since Botello lives in Irving, the monkey was sent to the Irving Animal Control Department which sent the monkey to a wildlife sanctuary called Funky Monkey Ranch. According to NBC, the monkey was diagnosed with rickets.

The Dallas Morning News reported the sanctuary, which it identified as Funky Monkey Ranch, said that Jorgie Boy weighed 6 pounds, less than half of an average spider monkey, and that he had tiny fractures in his bones and elevated liver and pancreatic levels.

The sanctuary's owner told the Dallas Morning News that the monkey would not be returned to Botello.

According to to NBC Botello is attempting to get the monkey back and has taken to social media about the ordeal.