Influencer Brandi Botello distraught as cops seize beloved pet spider monkey Jorgie Boy after DUI crash

An influencer is begging to be reunited with her Instagram-famous spider monkey that was confiscated after she was in a drunken car crash.

Jorgie Boy, an almost three-year-old primate, is recovering at Funky Monkey Ranch near Burleson, Texas, with what staff say is rickets.

He weighs just 2.5kg, half what a spider monkey his age should, and had minor bone fractures due to metabolic bone disease caused by poor nutrition.

Fashion influencer Brandi Botello begged authorities to return Jorgie Boy after Dallas police found them in a car crash early Saturday morning.

‘The last few days have been the hardest days of my life, I am devastated. “I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t sit still,” she said.

‘I’m so used to waking up every morning with him hugging my face. We do everything together, we share food, we take baths together. I am willing to continue doing my utmost to get him home again.

“It breaks my heart to know he’s probably in a cage and he’s never been in one before he’s with me 24/7.”

Botello was involved in a car accident with Jorgie Boy, who was sleeping on her lap and uninjured, with the vehicle hitting a curb so hard that the wheels were torn off.

Fashion influencer Brandi Botello begged authorities to return Jorgie Boy after Dallas police found them in a car crash early Saturday morning

She had blood drawn at a local hospital and was charged with drink-driving, but claimed it was a “very intoxicated” young man behind the wheel and that she got into the driver’s seat just before police arrived.

Botello admitted that she was drunk and passed out in the passenger seat and should not have put herself and Jorgie Boy in that situation, but called it “one mistake.”

Dallas police turned the monkey over to the city of Irving, where Botello lives, who took him to the wildlife refuge.

Funky Monkey Ranch owner Dwan Johns said Jorgie Boy was malnourished with a vitamin D deficiency and elevated liver and pancreas levels – which he blamed on eating too much fast food and soft drinks.

Videos showed Botello feeding him Waffle House eggs and cookies, and she said he liked Tex-Mex. Spider monkeys usually live on fruits and vegetables.

Botello disputed that she did not properly care for Jorgie Boy, claiming he was likely malnourished because he refused to eat when they were separated.

‘He takes VERY good care! I am all he knows. Jorgie Boy has his own personality. He is no ordinary monkey, he is very famous in the US,” she wrote.

“We always do free giveaways for the public, like Friendsgiving. I threw him a birthday party that over 400 people attended for free as well.

“I have his name tattooed on my back, I have his name engraved on my bracelet, I really love him with all my heart.”

Botello was involved in a car accident with Jorgie Boy, who was sleeping on her lap and uninjured, in which the vehicle struck a curb so hard that the wheels were torn off.

Botello has Jorgie Boy’s name tattooed on her back and often takes naps with him

Botello said she organized a birthday party for Jorgie Boy, including this huge cake, which was attended by 400 people

Dozens of Instagram photos and videos showed Jorgie Boy dressed in baby clothes and chunky jewelry as he attended Dallas Cowboys games.

The pair even dressed up as Dora the Explorer and her pet monkey, Boots, for Halloween.

Botello posted about the saga on social media, which led to hundreds of “Free Jorgie Boy” posts and raised almost $4,000 – although $3,000 came from one donor.

She asked for donations for legal fees, despite her Instagram showing her and Jorgie Boy wearing expensive jewelry and buying a $400 onesie.

The influencer said she was willing to receive training from the shelter on how to properly care for him and pay for the proper permits.

Monkeys are not allowed as pets in Irving, so she would have to move to a county that allows exotic pets.

‘After five days of not sleeping, I was finally able to take a nap, but this ugly depressing lonely feeling I have is the worst. “My body feels so heavy,” she wrote on Instagram on Wednesday.

‘I’ll keep trying! That’s what we as mothers do for our children! I don’t care how delusional I sound to anyone!

Jorgie Boy weighs only 2.5kg, half of what a spider buck of his age should be, and had small fractures in his bones due to metabolic bone disease caused by poor nutrition.

Dozens of Instagram photos and videos showed Jorgie Boy dressed in baby clothes and chunky jewelry as he attended Dallas Cowboys games

The pair even dressed up as Dora the Explorer and her pet monkey, Boots, for Halloween

‘He means more to me than anything in the world, I won’t let one little mistake break me. I’m willing to change anything and everything for him.

“It’s really something to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have accepted it, I know I am a good mother.’

Jorgie Boy drinks baby food and eats pureed baby food, gets sun therapy twice a day and will undergo physiotherapy.

Johns said he was not yet strong enough to play with the five other monkeys and could not swing or climb well.

He told the Dallas Morning News he did not want to give it back to Botello.

“People think monkeys are cute and cute and treat them like accessories,” he said.

Botello said she got Jorgie Boy from a friend when he was two months old, born on February 14, 2022, but did not know where he came from.

Spider monkeys are native to parts of South America, but are forcibly taken from their parents and trafficked to the US, where Instagram is driving a market for them.