Local MP Sheryll Murray has welcomed a report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee upon which she sits as a stepping stone but maintains the end goal should be an all out ban.
In a statement Sheryll said, “Keeping monkeys as pets is wrong. They are social creatures who need a strict diet and it is cruel to keep them in confinement. Having introduced a 10 minute Rule Bill early in this Parliament which was aimed at banning the keeping of Primates as pets in domestic properties, I hope this will be the first stage in securing a ban. Wild Futures provide a fantastic service in looking after rescued primates who have often been kept as domestic pets in unsuitable accommodation. You can make a donation to the by visiting their website www.wildfutures.org”.
The Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Miss Anne McIntosh added, “We take the welfare of primates in captivity very seriously, so we were surprised to find that so little is known about the types and numbers of primates being kept or traded by private individuals in the UK and about the manner in which they are being kept. It is paramount the Government acts promptly to address this ‘evidence deficit’. We do not rule out a ban, but conclude that such a step must be based on solid evidence and cannot be imposed before every opportunity to improve the operation of our existing framework has been exhausted. We call on Defra to commission independent research to establish the extent of the problems in this area and to report back to us with a plan of action within six months of receiving the research results. In the meantime, we recommend a number of changes to the current regulatory framework governing primates kept by private individuals to help protect their welfare over the short to medium term. In particular, the Government must ensure that standards for primates kept in private match those required in zoos. The quality of care that these animals enjoy should be the same whether they happen to be kept in a circus, a pet shop, a private home or a zoo. If these suggested changes prove insufficient and the evidence for doing so proves compelling, then a ban on the trade and keeping of privately kept primates should remain an option for the future.”
ENDS
Contact: Sheryll Murray MP 01579 344428
Pictured: Sheryll at a previous visit to the Monkey sanctuary