UK Prohibition Of The Keeping Of Primates As Pets Is Long Overdue Says Animal Defenders International
12 years ago
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Posted
18th January, 2012 10h45
Animal Defenders International (ADI) has contacted all MPs requesting that they attend a Ten Minute Rule Motion to bring in a prohibition of the keeping of Primates as Pets in the UK.
ADI is fully supportive of the motion of Sheryll Murray, Conservative MP for South East Cornwall, calling for a ban on keeping primates as pets after she saw the condition of rescued animals when visiting a monkey sanctuary in her constituency.
Jan Creamer, Chief Executive of Animal Defenders International (ADI), said: “ADI is grateful to Ms Murray for giving this issue parliamentary time, and the publicity that it so rightfully deserves. Primates are totally unsuitable to be kept as pets – they are wild animals with complex social needs and are simply not suitable for human companionship.
“Such animals need highly specialized care, and most prospective owners are unaware that the pet they are purchasing could live for up to 45 years. During this time, their owners could leave school, start a career, get married and have children. Very few people can offer that kind of commitment.
“In recent years we have seen cases where primates have seriously harmed their owners, as a result of being kept in captivity. Such incidents highlight the urgent need to re-evaluate the way that we treat our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. The UK should ban primate pets under the Animal Welfare Act, to prevent situations like this arising in future."
Currently, keeping primates as pets is legal in the UK and the Government brought in a code of practice for primate keepers in 2010. ADI believes that the current system is not working and an outright ban is the only way to give primates greater protection.
Animal Defenders International is recommending that the UK government takes immediate action to end the import and sale of primates for the pet trade, in light of the inevitable suffering involved in the capture, transport and social isolation of these animals, the damage caused to wild populations by the trade and the risk to human health from unknown monkey viruses.
In addition, they are recommending national licensing of all species of privately-owned primates which would set standards of welfare and environmental enrichment and make provision for removal of animals being kept in unsuitable conditions.
They would also like to see a working group established with involvement from government, primate sanctuaries and other groups, to set up an equitable and workable system for dealing with the offspring of privately-owned primates.
Tim Phillips, ADI’s Campaigns Director said: “The UK should take a leading role in Europe to encourage other governments to do the same and ban the keeping of primates as pets.
“Sanctuaries across Europe have reported that they receive many animals taken from their natural habitat, and it is difficult to trace sources. Primates are easily moved across borders, and smuggled primates could end up the in UK easily.
“No accurate data exists regarding how many primates are kept as pets in the UK, and estimates are between 2,500 and 7,500. These wild animals require specialist care and they need our protection now.”
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