Celebrities have some of the most unique pets. Many of these celebrities use their status to promote pet adoption and animal rights.
In March 2013 Justin Bieber got gifted a pet monkey which he called Mally. They travelled together during the European part of his Believe Tour, but when they got to Munich in Germany customs seized Mally because of lack of paperwork and vaccination documentation. Authorities placed Mally in a quarantine shelter from which he was later removed and taken to a local zoo. Zookeepers said the monkey was taken away from its mother too young and looked traumatised. Some rumours even said that Mally was stuck rocking back and forth singing “Baby” in the corner of the zoo. After the incident, Justin spoke about how he regretted taking Mally at such a young age and said he had learnt how important it was to respect animal welfare laws and proper care. Many people saw this as raising awareness of responsible exotic pet ownership.
In 1992 Mike Tyson acquired three tigers soon after his release from prison. He named them Storm, Boris and Kenya. Storm and Boris were rehomed soon after he got them, but Kenya was kept for 16 years. During this time Tyson grew close to Kenya, taking the tiger everywhere he went. They even slept in the same room. After Kenya attacked a woman who trespassed into her enclosure, Tyson realised how dangerous and ethically wrong it was to keep an animal of so much power as a pet. As well as owning tigers, he is also a proud owner of hundreds of pigeons. He has spread his collection around the United States including California, New Jersey, Florida and Las Vegas.
Kirstie Alley was another celebrity with a strange pet. In 2010 people started saying she had 14 ring tailed lemurs as pets after she pursued an interest in Madagascar conservation. She kept her lemurs in a specialised, large and secured habitat at her Los Feliz mansion. Kirstie hired a full-time caretaker to look after them. Sometimes she would take them with her whilst she travelled and she said they were calm and zen, but later said they were a huge responsibility. She started openly talking about her pets in 2016 and kept talking about them until her death in 2022. Before her death she had a plan to build a “dream farm” which contained a variety of animals including wild birds (which she held a special licence for), chickens and ducks. Kirstie advocated against animal experimentation, marine captivity and for animal rights. As well as that she helped fund a chimpanzee sanctuary in Burundi.
Overall, these stories show that while celebrity pets can be unusual and fascinating, they also come with huge responsibilities and important lessons about animal care and ethics.
