A Texas influencer is under investigation for caring for a confiscated spider monkey

A Dallas based influencer who had her a spider monkey that was taken from her on Saturday after a drunk driving accident On Friday, officials said they were under investigation after the monkey was found to be suffering from malnutrition.

Brandi Botello’s spider monkey named Georgie Boy was taken from her after a crash in which Dallas police arrested the driver on DUI charges.

Irving, the Dallas suburb where Botello lives, prohibits the ownership of wild animals Therefore, the monkey was turned over to animal control, authorities said. He was eventually moved to an animal shelter.

Irving police spokesman Delaney Bray said the investigation into Botello is being handled by the city’s Animal Services Division.

Bray said the department is investigating “the care of the animal and the condition it was in when it was surrendered.” Police said the monkey had been diagnosed with rickets, described as a “bone disease caused by inadequate nutrition”.

No charges have been filed against Botello related to the animal. Charges will not be filed until the investigation is complete, “because there is a difference between neglect and abuse,” Bray said.

It’s unclear how long the investigation will take, Bray said.

According to Texas lawIf someone is found guilty of animal cruelty, they cannot own any animals for five years, Bray said, but noted that the charges range from a misdemeanor to a felony.

“In the end, it was like that she is not allowed to have (monkey) in Irving, period,” Bray said. She said that usually in those cases, owners don’t fight to get their animals back because that would require them to move to another city.

Botello did not respond to multiple requests for comment Friday. The Irving Department of Animal Welfare also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the investigation.

Dallas police have not identified the driver involved in the single-vehicle crash, but Botello said NBC Dallas-Fort Worth she was the one who got arrested for DWI. She said that a familiar man was behind the wheel, and she got into the driver’s seat only after the accident.

She told the station she was drunk and asleep in the passenger seat holding Georgie Boy when the crash happened.

Georgie Boy is legally at the shelter

Dwan Jones, owner of Funky Monkey Ranch, a sanctuary near Fort Worth, confirmed to NBC News on Friday that he now legally owns Georgie Boy.

“I immediately added it to my USDA license here on our ranch. So he’s legitimately here to stay,” Jones said.

She added: “Fortunately, we were ready to take him in.”

Jones said the monkey weighed 6 pounds, less than half the weight of the average spider monkey, and that he had metabolic bone disease caused by a poor diet and an enlarged liver and pancreas.

Botello, who has 43,000 followers on Instagramlaunched something of a campaign to reunite with Georgie Boy, posting several Instagram stories from followers on Thursday who tweeted with the hashtag “#FreeJorgieBoy.”

The monkey could be euthanized

In a video published in Funky Monkey Ranch TikTokJones acknowledged Botello’s sympathy and said she wanted to share the “reality” of the situation.

She said she got a call from Irving Animal Control on Saturday saying they had confiscated the monkey but “didn’t know what to do with it.”

Because of Irving’s zero-tolerance policy for the city’s wildlife, Georgie Boy was going to be euthanized if Funky Monkey Ranch or another sanctuary didn’t have a place for him, Jones said.

In the video, she said that these cities don’t teach how to safely care for wild animals like Georgie Boy, and if, for example, a monkey bit someone, they would have to test for rabies, which would require Georgie Boy to be euthanized. euthanasia

Jones said that “within five seconds” of seeing Georgie Boy, she determined that “that animal has serious special needs.”

She said his head and legs were out of proportion to his body and his growth had been stunted “due to animal neglect”. Boy Georgie is the size of a one-year-old monkey, although he will be 3 years old in February. He also had tiny broken bones that were not from the car accident, Jones said.

A primate veterinarian examined Georgie Boy on Monday, Jones said.

“Unfortunately, he was forced to live a lifestyle that took a toll on his health,” Jones said. “He grew up spending nights in nightclubs, hanging around drugs and alcohol, not eating a healthy diet that a spider monkey would eat, not being exposed to proper enrichment and play.”

Long road to recovery

The sanctuary is doing sun therapy with Georgie Boy twice a day for the next six weeks, after which he will return to the vet for x-rays to see how his bones are healing. Jones said he hopes to begin physical therapy.

According to Jones, it may take more than a year to get Georgie Boy strong enough to play with other monkeys again.

Jones said she shared the story to let people know that when they were asked to take Georgie Boy, “it wasn’t to try to take someone’s monkey, it was to prevent the monkey from being euthanized.”

“We’re going to do everything we can to save him, get him back to health and let him live a happy life,” Jones said.

“I just want to make it clear that if you take any exotic animal into your care, it is your duty and your responsibility to do your proper research, find the right vet who specializes in that exotic animal, and provide them with everything they need ” Jones said. “And when you don’t do that, you’re causing animal neglect and animal cruelty.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com