A device for the long-term securing or "housing" of monkeys on poles is disclosed wherein a tether with rotatable joints is connected at one end to a collar around the monkey's neck and at the other end to a ring loosely fitted around a vertical climbing pole attached to a horizontal support means with perch means, and a source of food and water being supplied to each climbing pole, wherein the monkeys may climb up and down the climbing poles freely with the ring sliding up and down the pole, and wherein the monkey may make close social contact with other monkeys similarly restrained without their tethers becoming entangled.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an apparatus for the restraint or "housing" of 
monkeys on tethers attached to climbing poles. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Research laboratories that use monkeys usually house them in relatively 
small cages with one or two monkeys per cage (cage housing) or in a large 
room or large cage with many monkeys present (gang housing). These two 
methods constitute the two principal methods that are now in use for 
housing of monkeys. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. When 
monkeys are housed in individual cages they have little room to move about 
or climb and, if there is only one monkey in the cage, there is no 
opportunity for social contact. If two monkeys are kept in one cage there 
is social contact, but this is achieved at the expense of crowding. Cage 
housing has an advantage over gang housing in that the monkeys are easily 
caught for injections, examination, removal or other experimental 
procedures. Gang-housing on the other hand provides social contact and 
room to move about and climb. However the monkeys are not readily 
accessible to the experimenter; catching a monkey is difficult, requiring 
entrance into the gang cage and chasing the monkey with a net or trying to 
catch it while wearing gloves. 
The present invention overcomes some of the deficiencies of cage and gang 
housing. The invention is comprised of a number of climbing poles to which 
the monkeys can be attached by tethers. One end (the first end) of the 
tether is attached to a collar around the monkey's neck; the other end of 
the tether (the second end) is attached to a loosely fitting ring that can 
slide up and down the pole as the monkey climbs up and down. Monkeys 
restrained on my device can climb up an down the poles, can make social 
contact with three to five adjacent monkeys, can obtain food and water at 
any time, and can be caught easily for injections, examinations, or other 
experimental procedures. The tethers are of such a length that the monkeys 
cannot become entangled with each others tethers. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention is a device for the "housing" of monkeys, comprising 
horizontal support means to which are secured a plurality of vertical 
climbing poles; a plurality of vertical support means attached to said 
horizontal support means; a plurality of vertical climbing poles fixedly 
attached to said horizontal support means; and a plurality of horizontal 
perches attached to said vertical support means, spaced so that the 
perches are not in close proximity to the vertical climbing poles; whereby 
a tether, slidably attached to each of said vertical climbing poles by a 
ring, having a collar at the other end of the tether, whereby an 
individual monkey that is restrained by the collar is permitted to climb 
up and down the climbing pole to which it is attached, and permitting a 
plurality of monkeys similarly attached to the device to make close social 
contact without their tethers becoming entangled. 
This apparatus is useful for the more humane housing of monkeys than what 
is provided by conventional individual cages.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 
Referring now to the drawing in detail there is shown in FIG. 1 a 
perspective view of a pole-housing device constructed in accordance with 
the principles of the present invention. A tether 1 (which may be a chain 
such as a link-chain or a bead chain, or a cable made of flexible metal 
such as steel or other material that is resistant to the chewing of the 
monkeys, and having one or more rotatable joints, and also having a spring 
clip, or sliding bolt clip or similar conventional means allowing quick 
disconnection of a collar, is attached at one end to a collar 3 around the 
neck of a monkey, and at the other end to a ring 5 that fits loosely 
around a vertical climbing pole 7. The monkey can climb up and down the 
climbing pole 7 with the ring 5 sliding freely up and down. The monkey can 
also rotate about the tether 1 freely due to the rotable joints of the 
tether 1 without the tether 1 becoming twisted. The collar 3 can be of any 
conventional collar material. The monkeys can sit on any one of a 
plurality of perches 9 secured to horizontal perch support members 11. The 
horizontal perch support members and the perches they support can be 
secured in place permanently by being welded or bolted to the vertical 
support members. However, in the preferred embodiment these horizontal 
perch support members 11 are secured by "T" fittings 12 (of the type sold 
by The Hollaender Mfg. Co., Cincinnati, Ohio) to vertical support members 
13. The set screws of these fittings 12 can be loosened and the horizontal 
perch support members 11 and the perches 9 may be moved to a different 
height and resecured. 
Food is available to the monkeys from food boxes 15 mounted on upper 
horizontal pole support members 11. The food boxes 15 may alternatively be 
mounted at the bottom or top of the climbing pole 7 or any other location 
that does not interfere with climbing. The food box 15 has a side opening 
through which the monkey can obtain food. The use of a side opening 
prevents urine of feces from droping onto the food. (In an alternative 
embodiment a long trough with side openings may be installed in place of 
one of the perches 9.) A large diameter collar 19 is mounted at the top of 
each climbing pole 7 and is held in place by a set screw. The screw may be 
loosened and the large diameter collar 19 lowered and secured at a lower 
position to restrict the extent of vertical movement allowed for a 
particular monkey. 
Water is available for each monkey independently, from watering bottles 21. 
A conventional valve at the end of a drinking tube 22 allows water to flow 
when the drinking tube 22 is licked. The watering bottle 21 is secured in 
place at its lower end by inserting the drinking tube 22 through a hole in 
one of the perches 9, and is secured at its upper end by a housing 23. The 
housing 23 is a box that is open on the bottom and is secured to the 
underside of a perch. (To install the bottle the bottle is first inserted 
into the housing 23 then the drinking tube 22 is lowered through the hole. 
If necessary a bolt can be placed through the housing 23 above the bottle 
and secured in place with a nut or wing nut to prevent a monkey from 
lifting the bottle.) In an alternative embodiment water may be made 
available from drinking tubes spaced along the underside of one of the 
perches 9, which in this case would then be serving as both a perch and a 
pipe to carry water from a tank or other source of water. 
A monkey may be tethered to each climbing pole 7. The length of each tether 
1 is such that the collars 3 may partially overlap, permitting close 
social contact, such as grooming, huddling in a group, even sexual 
intercourse, without the monkeys becoming entangled in each other's 
tethers 1. Each climbing pole 7 may be secured in place permanently by 
being welded or bolted to the upper 17 and lower 25 horizontal pole 
support members. In the preferred embodiment each climbing pole 7 is 
secured in place by fittings 13 to the upper 17 and lower 25 horizontal 
perch support members. Set screws holding the fittings 12 may be loosened 
and the climbing poles 7 moved to one side or the other, then resecured. 
In this way the distance between climbing poles 7 may be adjusted. A new 
monkey may be housed at a greater than normal distance at one end of the 
line of climbing poles 7 and out of the reach of the adjacent monkeys then 
gradually brought closer to the group as it is slowly accepted. Also, a 
sick or injured monkey may be kept away from the others by this means. 
Climbing poles 7 may be removed or additional ones added as needed. The 
figure shows two lines of climbing poles 7. The distance between adjacent 
climbing poles 7 in each line of poles can be adjusted as described above. 
In addition, the distance between the lines of climbing poles may also be 
adjusted. The upper 17 and lower 25 horizontal perch support members and 
the vertical support members 13 are secured to upper and lower short 
horizontal support members 27 by fittings 28. Set screws in these fittings 
28 may be loosened and the lines of poles moved closer or further apart, 
then resecured. The climbing poles 7 are secured at a distance from the 
perches 9, so that the ring 5 of the tether 1 may slide past the perch as 
the monkey climbs up and down. 
A plurality of mesh gratings 29 are secured to horizontal grating support 
members 31 and permit urine and feces to drop through into a plurality of 
removable waste pans 33 and out of reach of the monkeys. The removeable 
waste pans rest on the floor. In an alternative embodiment the waste pans 
rest on horizontal waste pan support members attached to the lower short 
horizontal support members 27. (In another alternative embodiment the 
removeable waste pans 33 may be replaced wih a single long, inclined pan 
which empties into a drain hole at the lower end. This long pan may be 
flushed manually or automatically by conventional means.) The entire 
structure may be mounted on legs or, in the preferred embodiment, on 
locking casters 35 and may be rolled to and cleaned in a conventional cage 
washer. 
The invention is an improvement over conventional housing of monkeys in 
individual cages because individual cages do not permit close social 
contact with other monkeys nor do they provide a means to exercise by 
climbing, to the extent provided by the invention. The invention also 
provides easier visual inspection of the monkeys than is possible when 
monkeys are housed in individual cages. Finally, the monkeys are more 
accessible to an experimenter than monkeys housed in cages, that is they 
can be caught more easily. 
In another embodiment the vertical climbing poles 7 may be curved, straight 
or may contain angles, and may be positioned at any angle away from the 
perpendicular. 
The number of vertical climbing poles used per each unit can vary greatly 
and can be 2 to 20 or much more, preferably the unit uses 6 to 12 vertical 
poles. 
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without 
departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof accordingly 
reference should by made to the appended claims rather than to the 
foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention. 
It is obvious that the device can be constructed of various materials that 
are rigid and resistant to the chewing of the monkeys, for example iron or 
stainless steel pipe. The diameter of the climbing poles will depend upon 
the species of monkey, although approximately a one inch diameter will be 
sufficient for most monkeys.