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After a capuchin monkey named Chester roamed the streets around South Cumberland Avenue and included a destructive break-in at pawn/music/gun shop Trade Center, the local business turned the animal chaos into animal compassion.

Owners Loretta Bryant, Tom Shupe and Karen Shupe spearheaded an effort that sold t-shirts featuring the “Motown Monkey” and on Friday at the Center, they presented a check of $4000 to the Morristown-Hamblen Humane Society.

“Everybody that came in the store wanted to know the story about Chester and then (Loretta’s husband Monty thought we should) print t-shirts,” Karen Shupe said. “So my son did the design of it and we printed our first hundred and they just flew out the door. Everyone wanted a monkey shirt. The first 100 just flew out of here so we ordered a second hundred and we just have a few left.”

The shirt features a capuchin monkey playing a banjo on a porch with the view from Veteran’s Overlook in the background. There were 5 large-sized shirts left as of Friday morning.

They sold the shirts for $20 each and MHHS Executive Director Carlee Stevenson said when people in the community give like this it makes a huge difference in the lives of so many animals in the county.

“It’s always wonderful when our community comes together to help out the Humane Society,” she said. “This is an extraordinary amount of money for us from the t-shirt sale and we are just, we’re so appreciative of it.”

One of the animals from their system, currently in foster care but available for adoption, was present at the check presentation.

Grimm, a black heeler mix that came to the shelter severely injured, was traipsing around the Trade Center and was a pleasant companion for the morning.

“His leg was mangled,” Stevenson said, adding it wasn’t clear what injured him. “He could have got caught underneath something or it could have been a coyote… but the leg was terrible and we got it amputated and he’s learned to maneuver very well.

“The leg was terrible but he had wounds all over the front half of him as well, and since they’ve healed, they’ve turned (the hair at the spots) white.”

The Trade Center has all kinds of treasures for sale, school band instruments to rent, one of the longest tenured pawn operations in the area and much more and is located at 1721 S. Cumberland Avenue.

Grimm and many more animals are available for adoption through the Morristown-Hamblen Humane Society Animal Shelter located at 5251 E. Morris Boulevard.