APRIL is National Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month. In light of this, the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) has shared a shocking story about a baby vervet monkey who was severely burned by a group of youngsters.  The centre said the story served as an opportunity to emphasise the cruelty that animals experience at the hands of humans.

The vervet monkey was rescued by Kevin Rundle, a builder by trade, who witnessed the incident and stopped his car to save the baby monkey called, Irene. The incident occurred in Mtinzini and the baby monkey has been rehabilitated at the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW).

The baby monkey who was severely burned by a group of young boys is on the mend.

Chandre de Bruyne, marketing communications of CROW said the baby monkey is about 3.5 months old.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

“He stopped to help baby Irene after he saw her being dragged by the tail. After insisting that they let go of her, baby Irene ran into the bush and was only found the following morning on a dirt road nearby. Baby Irene had severe burn wounds on both her feet and two puncture holes that were badly infected. She was also very dehydrated. Her wounds were treated by applying burn ointment and changing the bandages about three times a day.

“After spending 10 days in the Intensive Care Unit at CROW, Baby Irene is now moving around and doing much better. She will be kept in a separate enclosure until she is strong enough to join the rest of the nursery group of eight babies. We would like to give a big thank you and congratulations to everyone involved in the rescue of Irene,” she said.