# Who cares for personal care monkeys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460 "2006-10-30T18:24:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/21 "2006-11-01T18:58:15Z")
Qui custodet monachorum? ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/22 "2006-11-01T19:12:18Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] If personal-care humans evolved from personal-care monkeys, would personal-care monkeys still be around? Seriously, though, this sounds like a really cool program, and this is the first I’ve heard of it. [/QUOTE] With helper monkeys comes [helper monkey discrimination](http://cbs4boston.com/pets/local_story_258152614.html). ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/23 "2006-11-01T20:01:59Z")
[QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy] With helper monkeys comes [helper monkey discrimination](http://cbs4boston.com/pets/local_story_258152614.html). [/QUOTE] That lady is giving personal care monkeys a bad name. PCMs are highly trained and provide essential life services to disabled people. Taking your monkey to lunch so it can hold your hand and assure you that the waiter doesn’t secretly hate you for ordering decaf isn’t quite the same thing. Someone needs to stand up for these valiant PCMs, even if they won’t help dig you out of the rubble of your house. Might bring you a cookie, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/24 "2006-11-01T20:08:37Z")
[QUOTE=Dingbang] So I was reading a disaster preparedness pamphlet the other day and I learned that if there is a natural disaster or nuclear catastrophe, you should not count on your personal care monkey to assist you. The pamphlet said (no kidding) something like “your personal care monkey will be too traumatized and frightened to render aid.” [/QUOTE] Will they become cheese-eating personal care surrender monkeys? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/25 "2006-11-01T20:22:15Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] Qui custodet monachorum? [/QUOTE] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/26 "2006-11-01T20:31:44Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Wait, am I the only one astonished that this wasn’t just a Simpsons joke? There really \*are \* helper monkeys? [/QUOTE] Sure they’re real. There was even a horror movie based on them, “Monkey Shines”. :\> [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095652/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095652/) ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/27 "2006-11-01T20:44:06Z")
I should note that there was real question in the OP and we haven’t found an answer yet. If the person is severely disabled and the monkey helps them with daily life because they’re paralyzed from the neck down, for instance, who cares for the monkey? I understand that the monkey organization provides ongoing vet care and so on, but I’m wondering about daily or weekly care. Don’t monkeys need some kind of care? Or are they okay on their own for long periods? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/28 "2006-11-01T21:03:26Z")
[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance] Or an escape artist named Yorick. [/QUOTE] Not if you were the last man on earth. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2006, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/29 "2006-11-01T21:38:44Z")
[QUOTE=Dingbang] I should note that there was real question in the OP and we haven’t found an answer yet. If the person is severely disabled and the monkey helps them with daily life because they’re paralyzed from the neck down, for instance, who cares for the monkey? [/QUOTE] Going by the link that **js\_africanus** provided: [Helping Hands Monkeys](http://www.helpinghandsmonkeys.org/pages/about.html), it seems this orginization does provide care for the animals. For some reason I can not copy and paste from this site, but if you look at the last paragraph at the bottom of the link, it goes on to explain about care they provide for the monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460/30 "2006-11-02T14:38:48Z")
[QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy] Going by the link that **js\_africanus** provided: [Helping Hands Monkeys](http://www.helpinghandsmonkeys.org/pages/about.html), it seems this orginization does provide care for the animals. For some reason I can not copy and paste from this site, but if you look at the last paragraph at the bottom of the link, it goes on to explain about care they provide for the monkeys. [/QUOTE] Ahh, I see. Didn’t look far enough in the article. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-cares-for-personal-care-monkeys/378460.md?page=1)