My name is Paulo and now I have a family and a home.

It seems that hardly a week goes by now without a request for a place for a monkey at Canaote. This week has been no exception. We accepted a capuchin monkey from Asoguau in Valencia We refused a further capuchin from Valencia because we just did not have the facility available to care for him. Our facility is tuned to the care of Howler Monkeys in the main but we do have a unit capable of supporting up to five capuchins. The child we accepted is a real waif. He arrived more or less penniless with nothing except the cage he stood up in. He didn’t even have a name. He was found wandering the streets in Valencia and apprehended by the police. We have no history, he is fully grown, appears to be in good health but like so many pets at this time he has been abandoned. We have been working furiously to make a residence for him. He cannot join the existing troop of capuchins because we have already two boys and boys always fight. We are lucky that they have learned to tolerate each other. We have him in temporary accommodation overnight and we expect to have a more suitable enclosure, ready for him tomorrow.
This of course is underlining a growing problem. Many people are on the move for one reason or another. Many are moving abroad permanently. This is a bad situation particularly for cats and dogs; so many are being abandoned into the street.
Our shelter is a privately funded one, and we have the resources to help only a few. Too often these days with an aching heart we refuse shelter. I have the love and the will but unfortunately that does not buy a lot of chicken.