That’s it for “Monkey Mondays” Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Stuart, Florida. The restaurant has ended the tradition after an eight-year-old boy was bitten by another customer’s capuchin monkey.
The “Monkey Mondays” tradition started in honor of a couple of regulars, Mary and Richard Van Houten, who always come to eat with their little capuchin JoJo. That went in the can once little Jaxson Ignelzi was bitten by the monkey when he tried to pet her. Things went well the first time around, only getting ugly once Jaxson came back reportedly “grabbing JoJo trying to play,” which is when the monkey bit his finger.
To be fair, the couple did warn him to be careful since JoJo was a little “hyper” that day. And he came out of it fine except for a cut on his finger – which may be a concern since JoJo wasn’t up to date on her mandatory rabies vaccination, resulting in a citation. So, the restaurant doesn’t allow exotic pets inside anymore… just service animals and the usual, ponies.
Source: Daily Mail