An Animal Rights/Vegan Activists' Strategies Article used with permission from All-Creatures.org

Hannah Williams reports on a billboard campaign that asks for the release of Frankie to sanctuary after half a lifetime of captivity and isolation.

I-35 Billboard Asks Shawnee Pet Store to Let Frankie the Monkey Retire After 19 Years
From Hannah Williams, IDA In Defense of Animals, idausa.org
September 2026

Photo from In Defense of Animals

SHAWNEE, Kan. (Sept. 17, 2026) — Frankie, a capuchin monkey who has spent 19 years inside a Shawnee pet store, now looks down from a billboard beside Interstate 35 that asks the store to let him retire to a sanctuary. In Defense of Animals and Kansas City Action for Animals put up the billboard on Aug. 31 and it will run through Sept. 27. It is the second Free Frankie billboard this year, following one in Merriam in May. Both came after more than a year of protests and letters that failed to secure Frankie’s release.

Located on the north side of West 63rd Street near the on-ramp to Interstate 35, the billboard declares “FRANKIE NEEDS A SANCTUARY NOT A STORE” and directs passersby to FreeFrankie.com.

Frankie was purchased as a baby and has spent every day since inside an approximately 10-foot enclosure at Pet Stop. He has never climbed a tree, touched grass or lived with another monkey. Instead, he has spent nearly two decades surrounded by fluorescent lights, store noise and strangers.

Frankie, a capuchin monkey, inside his enclosure at Pet Stop in Shawnee in June, 2025. He has lived alone at the store for 19 years. Photos: KC Action for Animals.

Capuchin monkeys are highly intelligent, intensely social animals who naturally live in groups, form close bonds, climb, explore and interact constantly with their surroundings. Capuchins can live 35 to 45 years in captivity, so Frankie may have half his life still ahead of him. Pet Stop’s owners have publicly described Frankie screaming when frustrated, taking weeks to interact with unfamiliar toys and rubbing urine through his fur. These behaviors are consistent with the effects of severe deprivation and isolation.

“For 19 years, Frankie has watched the world pass by from inside a pet store cage,” said In Defense of Animals Campaigner Hannah Williams. “He has never known the companionship of another monkey, climbed a real tree or experienced the kind of life a capuchin desperately needs. Our billboard makes Frankie’s isolation impossible to ignore. He has already lost nearly two decades. Pet Stop can give him two decades of happiness by releasing him to the sanctuary home that’s waiting for him.”

A dedicated primate sanctuary in Texas has offered to give Frankie a home.

“We understand why so many people in Shawnee love Frankie. That’s exactly why we want the next 20 years of his life to be his best. He desperately needs room to move and climb, enrichment suited to his needs and, critically, the possibility of companionship with other monkeys. A sanctuary transfer could dramatically improve Frankie’s quality of life,” said In Defense of Animals Director of Communications and International Partnerships Fleur Dawes.

Locals have held multiple protests to raise awareness for the Free Frankie campaign, including this one outside Pet Stop in Shawnee. Photo: KC Action for Animals.

In Defense of Animals and Kansas City Action for Animals are urging Pet Stop owners Greg and Andi Smith to accept a sanctuary placement. Pet Stop previously declined an interview request from the Johnson County Post in May. In Defense of Animals is inviting Smith, whose store has served Shawnee for nearly 50 years, to meet with the sanctuary and to allow an independent welfare assessment of Frankie by a primate veterinarian.

“Frankie has spent enough of his life behind wire inside a pet store,” said Free Frankie campaign organizer, Amanda Williams. “Every day Pet Stop refuses sanctuary is another day he can never get back. The solution is already waiting: a reputable sanctuary is ready to welcome him. This does not have to be complicated. Pet Stop can change the rest of Frankie’s life with one word: yes.”

The campaign is also asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate Frankie’s living conditions. Federal Animal Welfare Act regulations require nonhuman primates housed alone to be able to see and hear others of their kind unless an attending veterinarian determines that would endanger them. Pet Stop’s most recent USDA inspection report, from April 2025, lists no violations.

As of Sept. 17, more than 40,000 people have written to Pet Stop’s owners and the USDA through an In Defense of Animals alert.

Members of the public can email Pet Stop, ask the USDA to investigate, and share the Free Frankie campaign at FreeFrankie.com, or call Pet Stop directly at 913-268-6065.

---

Posted on All-Creatures.org: September 18, 2026
Return to Animal Rights/Vegan Activist Strategies