When Rebekah Ferguson and her spouse, Jon Madorsky, purchased a 2-pound, 8-inch marmoset four years ago they found their new pet lovable and docile.

After multiple bites that led to stitches and an infection during the course of a few years, the two now don't find Chachi so cuddly.

"This thing is nothing but a pain in the (expletive)," Madorsky said. "Imagine how agile a cat is and multiply that by a squirrel. This little thing bites. You name it -- (it's been) bitten ..."

In fact, Chachi turned relationships in the couple's south Loop household upside down.

"As the monkey grew more mature, he assumed ownership of one of our dogs," Madorsky said, pointing out that Chachi would ride the dog, hang on its fur and become hostile when Madorsky approached the two.

Madorsky and Ferguson had no inkling their "fun idea" of monkey ownership would spiral so drastically out of control.

They purchased Chachi from a private breeder in Texas, who informed them of how to properly feed and maintain the primate. But the breeder offered no clues on the social and behavioral needs of a monkey.

Or the cost.

Madorsky paid $2,500 to buy the monkey, a few hundred dollars to fly down to Texas to pick it up and perhaps another $1,000 in maintenance of the pet.

Then, to find a sanctuary willing to take Chachi, Madorsky had to donate a habitat costing $1,000 and agree to support the marmoset with $50 to $100 each month for the rest of its life.

Chachi is 4, and marmosets can live up to 15 years.

Madorsky said had he been properly educated on the real cost of a monkey, he and Ferguson never would have bought it.

Legally obtaining a monkey in Illinois, however, is so easy to do that few sellers properly educate pet lovers on their new responsibilities, according to Jay Peterson, the associate curator of primates at the Brookfield Zoo in suburban Brookfield.

Illinois is one of 19 states with no laws governing the private ownership of nonhuman primates. Leading zoos, researchers and exotic animal advocates are clamoring for laws regulating or prohibiting pet monkeys because of the risks they pose to animals and their owners.

"There are many issues with having a monkey -- infections, diseases primates can get from people and people can get from primates, bathroom hygiene issues," Peterson said.

Recent efforts in the Illinois General Assembly have stalled, however, primarily because the public does not understand the huge implications of owning a monkey.

But while monkeys make for poor pets, said Edward Parzygnat, who facilitates animal shows and education programs, laws aren't necessarily the answer.

"We went to Springfield four or five years ago and they tried to pass some stuff for ownership of monkeys," he said. "The reason I went down there is that the bill was so ridiculous that it also affected the USDA people who know what they're doing."