ONEIDA CASTLE -- A family in Oneida Castle had quite a scare this week when an escaped monkey ran into their yard.
Nick Fedchenko says his wife, Amy, and their two-year-old son were in the backyard of their house on Prospect Street when a pet Capuchin monkey named "Jada" jumped onto Amy's arm.
Police say she was able to get the monkey off of her arm and quickly grabbed her son to protect him. They say, when she tried to fend off the monkey, it bit her finger. Then, she ran inside.
Nick Fedchenko says the monkey clawed at the door.
"You could see there was blood on its teeth, and it was just screeching and screaming," he says. "My wife was screaming, 'I've been attacked, and I've been bitten. Help!'"
Fedchenko says he ran outside to try to contain the monkey. By the time police got to the scene, it was on the roof. Jada's owner arrived and was able to calm it down.
"It's certainly unusual in upstate New York," says State Police Captain Francis Coots. "It's not unusual to see wild animals, but seeing a monkey, I think, would be unusual."
Capt. Coots says the State Police have finished their investigation and no charges were filed. He says the monkey's owner was able to produce a license and proof of the monkey's rabies shots.
Still, Fedchenko says he is keeping a close eye on his wife's health, just in case. He says he never expected this to happen at his house, which he moved into just a week and a half ago.
"We purchased it so our two-year-old son would have a place to play, and our dog could run around," he says. "Now, she's worried about our son in his brand new backyard."
As for the monkey, Oneida County Health Department officials say it was euthanized on Wednesday. Under New York State law, the monkey had to be tested for rabies. To check the animal for rabies, its brain tissue had to be examined after it was euthanized.
Officials say the results came back negative and the monkey did not have rabies.
Oneida Castle is 25 miles east of Syracuse.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
