A Stamford, Conn., woman was critically injured this week after being attacked by a 200-pound chimpanzee kept as a pet, as she got out of her car to visit the home of the animal's owner. The chimp was killed by police officers, and the mauled woman suffered a massive loss of blood and serious facial injuries. The chimp reportedly even bit off the woman's hands.

Unfortunately, such incidents are not uncommon as "pet" primates have become a reckless and dangerous fad in America. It's estimated that there are 15,000 nonhuman primates – chimps, macaque monkeys, and others – in captivity in the United States. They are often purchased as infants, readily available for sale on a number of Internet sites.

Cute baby monkeys become aggressive as they grow older, and these animals can be highly dangerous. The average homeowner quickly learns that he or she cannot provide the appropriate housing, veterinary care or diet that primates require. At least a hundred people have been injured by captive primates in the past decade – dozens of them children.

Last June, a former pet chimpanzee escaped from the exotic animal facility where he was being housed and was not found despite a search in the San Bernardino National Forest. In every region of the country, pet primates are a national epidemic. These are highly intelligent and social animals who live long lives. They have complex social and psychological needs, but are typically kept chained or confined in small cages or basements. In order to render the animals less dangerous, owners often mutilate them by removing their teeth.

The threats to public safety and animal welfare are perhaps eclipsed by the public health time bomb just waiting to explode. Primates can spread dangerous diseases such as herpes B, monkey pox, tuberculosis and simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV, the primate form of HIV. Nearly every macaque monkey in captivity carries the herpes B virus.

Recognizing this serious risk, 20 states – including California – already prohibit private ownership of primates as pets. But given the patchwork of state and local laws and the interstate nature of the primate pet trade, what's also needed is a federal response.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is a lead author of the Captive Primate Safety Act, which would ban the interstate transportation of apes, monkeys, lemurs, marmosets and other primates for the pet trade. A similar measure passed the House of Representatives last year by a vote of 302-96 and also cleared a Senate committee, but Congress adjourned before it could be enacted.

The Captive Primate Safety Act is similar to a bill that passed Congress unanimously in 2003, prohibiting the interstate commerce in tigers, lions and other dangerous big cats for the pet trade. Like the big cats bill, the primate bill would crack down on the exotic pet industry but would have no impact on zoos, medical research and other federally licensed facilities. A broad coalition of scientific and animal welfare organizations – including the Humane Society of the United States, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Jane Goodall Institute – support a ban on the trade in pet primates.

We need to end this dangerous monkey business. Primates belong in the wild, not in our backyards and basements. For our own health and safety – as well as the animals' – Congress should act swiftly and pass the Captive Primate Safety Act before the next child is mauled by a chimp.

Jennifer Fearing of Sacramento is the chief economist for the Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization, online at www.humanesociety.org.