Luv Bites Paris in the...Arm
Wasn't Paris Hilton supposed to have ditched her furry friend a while ago?
No, we don't mean the Simple Life star's ubiquitous Chihuahua, but rather the deceptively adorable kinkajou named Baby Luv that bit her on the arm earlier this week.
Hilton's publicist, Elliott Mintz, confirmed to E! News that she was treated for a superficial bite wound at a Los Angeles-area hospital shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday, received a tetanus shot and was released a few hours later.
The hotel heiress acquired her razor-toothed, raccoon-like bundle of ferocious joy last November during a trip to Las Vegas and, after setting foot back home in Los Angeles--where kinkajous are illegal to own, unless you're a zoo or otherwise-licensed facility--promptly received a warning from the California Department of Fish and Game.
Department spokesman Steve Martarano said that it's protocol to monitor such situations and then direct violators to either move their animals to a place that's permitted to handle them or to go play with their pets in another state.
It's also illegal to keep kinkajous, which are indigenous to Central and South America, as pets in New York City, so Hilton is running out of playgrounds.
And when the government intervention didn't work you'd think that getting bit and scratched in the face during a December shopping trip would have done the trick.
Hilton is known for being a friend of the animals, though. In addition to her dogs, Tinkerbell and Cinderella, she also owned a ferret for awhile. Like kinkajous--and Hilton for that matter--ferrets are very playful, social creatures. But while Hilton can probably provide a better home than most for her exotic companions, she may not be doing anyone--including those who look up to her--any favors.
"The problem with Paris and others buying trendy and small, high-maintenance animals and using them as accessories, is that it helps perpetuate the cruel trade in exotic animals," PETA spokesperson Lisa Lange said. "She probably takes very good care of them because she can, but kinkajous, chinchillas and other pocket pets--even smaller dogs--are not to be picked up and taken down the red carpet."
Just how dangerous can a cute little five-pound creature that's also known as a "honey bear" possibly be? Plenty, once you factor in its proclivity to bare tooth and claw and attack on a whim. Not to mention, its saliva contains a harmful, species-specific bacteria.
"Kinkajous scream when they're fed, bark when they're disturbed--they do not lend themselves to being a pet," Lange said. (The PETA rep also gave Hilton props for some recent anti-fur statements the House of Wax star made recently, saying that her organization would ideally like to see Hilton speak out more on the subject.)
"People see these kinds of animals on TV and think they're so cute and playful and harmless," Patrick Foy of the California Department of Fish and Game said. "In fact, they can be deadly. It's a lose-lose situation. [Exotic animals] are extremely difficult to handle, extremely difficult to properly care for, and it's bad for the animal and usually bad for the person."
On paper, however, Hilton and Baby Luv look like a perfect match. They're both nocturnal, they aggregate near good food sources and they tend to advertise or communicate their sexual status. However--according to Hilton--unlike the kinkajou, she is not promiscuous and isn't planning to mate anytime soon.
Hilton can be seen, sans kinkajou, on the season finale of The Simple Life on E! this Sunday. (E! Online is owned by E! Networks.)
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