City officials say case closed over Dez Bryant, pet monkey

The curious case ofDez Bryantand the pet monkey has been put to rest -- at least for now.

Officials in the suburban Dallas city ofDeSoto, Texas, won't further investigate after the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called on them to look into whether theDallas Cowboys' star receiver was in illegal possession of a baby monkey.

PETA had also asked that the animal be transferred to a sanctuary.

According to The Dallas Morning News,DeSoto police said the complaint was closed Monday.

"The City Attorney was just contacted by Mr. Bryant's personal attorney who advised the monkey is not in the city of DeSoto," the DeSoto police said, according to The Morning News. "We don't expect to have any further updates on this matter."

Bryant had posted a photo of the monkey on his Instagram account last week, with the message, "My new best friend ... Dallas Bryant world."

In a letter to animal control authorities in DeSoto, where Bryant owns a home,PETA identified the monkey as a capuchin.

DeSoto police later released a statement, according to The Morning News' report, that said they were "aware of Dez Bryant's alleged illegal possession of a capuchin monkey within the city limits of DeSoto." But police said there was no evidence the monkey was in DeSoto.

Brittany Peet, PETA's deputy director of captive animal law enforcement, said in a statement earlier Monday that the "baby capuchin was torn away from his mother shortly after birth and needs special care that can now only be provided by wildlife experts."

"Monkeys belong in the wild -- not in the hands of football players who acquire exotic animals just to make a splash on Instagram," Peet said in the statement.

Asked Monday if the monkey had made a visit to Valley Ranch, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said, "I have not met Dallas. Uh, I've heard stories that he has a monkey. There has been visual evidence of that."

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called the monkey situation "pretty humorous."

"I am a monkey fan. I can stand in a zoo and look at them all day long and die laughing," he said during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday.

"My dad was in the wild animal business and had over 5,000 wild animals. And he always was, no matter what, he would hand somebody a card and say, 'Be sure and come out and visit my monkeys.' And we've got quite a show that goes on.

"One of the biggest issues with that one is that one time this monkey jumped up on the roof of a car. You drove through about nine miles and you drove through monkeys and drove through a lot of other things. No predators loose, but the monkeys, people had their windows down on both sides. The monkey hit the driver's side, went through the car and on his way by a little girl, pulled a bunch of hair out. And of course that was quite a big issue.

"I've loved the experience around monkeys."

Bryant is coming off an eventful week in which he returned to the Cowboys after being sidelined since Week 1 because of a foot injury.

The two-time Pro Bowler had two receptions in Sunday's 13-12 loss to the Seahawks. Hewent on a profanity-laced postgame tirade while denying that he made derogatory remarks to an injured Seattle player.

Information from ESPN Cowboys reporter Todd Archer was included in this report.