Whenever we hear about people being forced to work in the sex industry against their will we undoubtedly think about how rank and disgusting and downright awful for them it is, but I don’t think I’ve even stopped to consider what it would be like for animals who were forced to take part in this shit.

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Needless to say, it’s probably just as bad for them and this can be seen in the story of this orangutan that some people thought it would be a good idea to force to work as a sex slave. Pony was discovered back in 2003 in a brothel in Kareng Pangi, Central Kalimanta in Indonesia, where she was chained to the wall on a mattress. Palm oil farmers would regularly frequent the brothel to have sex with her for $3 (£2). Her captors also forced her to wear perfume and makeup and shaving her once every couple of days.

Here’s what Lone Droscher-Nielson, who discovered Pony back in 2003, said the following about her situation:

When I found that she was used for prostitution and not just a pet I was horrified.

Perhaps in my naivety I had never thought it humanly possible to do such a thing to an animal.

They [the farm workers] would come in especially for [her].

You could choose a human if you preferred, but it was a novelty for many of the men to have sex with an orangutan.

She was being used as a sex slave. She was probably about six or seven years old when we rescued her, but she had been held captive by a madam for a long time.

She slowly recovered and male carers were slowly introduced to her. She didn’t seem to be afraid of them anymore and she was happy with any company she could have. Eventually she was moved to one of the islands.

Lone reports that it seems Pony will ever be released into the wild because she lacks the basic survival skills that orangutans develop when they’re in their early years. She will probably spend the rest of her days in an enclosure in Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Centre with seven other orangutans.

Meanwhile, her captors have never faced any consequences for their actions due to the lawless nature of Indonesia. Kinda makes me sick that people did that to Pony and that people were actively paying money for the opportunity. What is wrong with some people over there hey?  Hope this kinda stuff isn’t happening anymore but I’m fairly certain it is. Gross.

For more of a nice story about orangutans, check out this one about a Dutch zoo that’s now offering them Tinder services. That’s nice.