Submitted by Sabrina Schnarrenberg.
I recently got the opportunity to tour Misfitland, a 300-acre primate rescue right here in Clermont County. It was an incredible experience that I wanted to share with everyone. Teresa Bullock and I share a love of all animals; she invited me to come visit her primate sanctuary and hopefully help her out with some grant funding for permanent improvements to her Misfitland. Unfortunately, for her, and many other local nonprofits, most grants are on hold right now, along with most fundraisers. Her annual fundraiser “Homecoming” is always a huge party, lots of bands and fun and raises a great deal of money. It is scheduled for July 11 at Washington Township Park, but who knows if it will happen. It is a big worry for her.
Teresa takes in traditional animals: cats, dogs, even a pot bellied pig. But her biggest passion is her monkeys. She is incredibly passionate about saving animals from euthanasia because owners “can’t handle them” or from breeding facilities. Each one of her monkeys, one capuchin and three macaques, has similar stories. Penny is a two-year-old macaques and Ralphie is a one year old macaques. They came from the same house; the owners needed to sell them and were worried that they would end up in a experimental lab or Penny would become a breeder, so they donated the monkeys to Misfitland.
They are both typical toddlers. When I met them, they couldn’t keep their hands off my pen and seemed fascinated with flipping the pages in my notebook. They love to play with the other animals, love to groom Teresa, and swing in their new jungle gym. Bugs is 20-years-old, Teresa has had him since he was 14-months-old. His original owner gave him away and he was put in a cage; he had never been in a cage before. When he got the chance to get away he ran … straight into the middle of traffic. The original owner was able to get him back, and gave Bugs to Misfitland. Louis is the capuchin, he was 16 when he came to Teresa. He had become aggressive in his old home and the owner was preparing to put him down when she heard of Misfitland. He is now the spokesperson for Misfitland. He and Teresa usually schedule twice a month visits at Wal-Mart as a fundraiser. People love to get pictures with him, but that has also been put on hold.
Teresa would love to take in more monkeys, but funding and red tape are always a concern. She began as an animal sanctuary, and now is listed as a primate rescue, but is only able to take up to three macaques. The permit allowing the three macaques is $500 annually and she has to pay almost $2,000 in insurance.
She would love to take more, she turned down five last year, but the next higher permit would be $1,000 annually. Insurance and permits are the least expensive parts of her rescue.
Each primate has a specific diet, mostly fresh veggies and some fruits and meat prepared twice daily. They also have free choice of chow nuts and seeds. All of her animals are fixed and see the veterinarian regularly. They have great open spaces where they can roam freely for the rest of their lives.
Several of the animal spaces need remodeling; one roof is in need of repair and another barn needs insulation.
The macaques can live to be 30 years, and the capuchin’s average life span is 45. Misfitland is their permanent home.
Teresa would love the sanctuary to become self-sufficient by opening for tours, educational parties and events and she would love to never have to turn away a primate in need.
If you would like to learn more about Misfitland, please visit their website at www.misfitland.org or call or text Teresa directly at 513 888-8777.