Monkey sanctuary calls for tighter pet trade laws

Dean bought marmoset Kush for £1,000 from a seller posing as a rescue centre

A monkey sanctuary has called on the government to follow through with plans to tighten pet trade regulations after it rescued its 81st marmoset.

Monkey World in Wareham, Dorset, collected Kush, an eight-year-old common marmoset, from a property in Bristol on Tuesday.

Director Dr Alison Cronin said it was "tragic" and called on the government to continue with its "commitment to improve the legislation".

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "The draft legislation being debated today will ensure that only private keepers who can provide the highest welfare standards will be able to keep primates.”

Kush is now in the care of Monkey World

Kush's owner, Dean, bought her and another marmoset, Fleur, for £2,000 from an online company based in Luton posing as a rescue centre.

He spent thousands of pounds on large indoor and outdoor enclosures with perches, heating and the correct diet.

But, knowing the monkeys needed companionship from their own kind, he contacted Monkey World after Fleur died.

Dr Cronin agreed to take in Kush, because Moschino, another marmoset who the sanctuary rescued from a tiny cage with no food, water or heat, was in need of a partner.

Moschino was rescued from small cage held together with ribbons

Dean said that because marmosets can be bought in the same way as regular pets, "people don't realise what a commitment they are".

He was not prepared for the amount of specialist knowledge, money and care the marmosets needed, Monkey World said.

Even though Dean spent thousands on caring for the primates, he has "still got to give them away to a better home", he said.

"It's not a joke. Something needs to be done," he said.

Dean spent thousands building an enclosure for Kush

Dr Cronin said current laws "are not good enough to ensure that monkeys who are kept privately in the exotic pet trade receive the care they need".

"Instead, we continue to rescue monkeys from private homes that are kept in solitary confinement, often in bird cages in sitting rooms," she said.

"It is tragic and we still have more than 70 monkeys on our waiting list.

"I hope that the government follows through with its commitment to improve the legislation to protect individuals like Kush and Moschino."

A Defra spokesperson said: “We have consistently led the world in raising the bar for animal welfare standards, which is why we’re delivering on our pledge to ban the keeping of these inquisitive creatures as pets.

"The draft legislation being debated today will ensure that only private keepers who can provide the highest welfare standards will be able to keep primates.”