Misery sparks call for ban

MONKEYS are unsuitable as pets for all sorts of reasons but thousands are still being kept in British homes – in misery.

The RSPCA has seen calls about these creatures’ welfare treble in five years. Now they are calling for a ban.

The charity’s Dr Ros Clubb said: “Our inspectors have seen monkeys cooped up in bird cages, fed fast food and sugary drinks, deprived of friends, living in dirt and squalor and diseased.”

It isn’t a question of owners being cruel. Dr Clubb said: “People just don’t know how to look after them. There may be hundreds more suffering.”

At least 5,000 primates, such as marmosets, capuchins and squirrel monkeys, are being bred and sold as pets, with Manchester a hotspot.

Marmoset Mikey was four months old when he was rescued. He had such bad rickets he had trouble walking.

He was bred by a couple in the West OUR vet Brian Faulkner, from Petplan, has 16 years of experience and is a freelance working all over the country. Send your questions to Brian at: Petplan, Great West House, Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 9DX or via Petplan’s Facebook page facebook.com/ PetplanUK. Midlands who advertised him and handed him to a buyer in a car park.

His new owners soon realised how ill and scared he was and took him to the vets. X-rays showed he had seven fractures and his tail was bent. He was in so much pain he had to be put down.

The RSPCA often rescues monkeys but there are few places for them, so they are building a marmoset enclosure at a sanctuary in Cornwall.

Dr Clubb said: “Primates, as highly intelligent wild animals, are not suitable pets. Similar to humans, they form intricate relationships, experience emotions and reflect on experiences and feelings.”

Isolated primates can soon become depressed. They self-mutilate, pluck out their hair, grind their teeth, rock and self-hug.

Many are deprived of sunlight and develop bone disease, deformities, painful abscesses and tooth decay.

Fifteen European countries have introduced a primate pet ban but we lag behind. The RSPCA is presenting a petition to the Government next month. You can sign at rspca.org.uk. MY dog, who is five years old, is struggling to eat at the moment. What kind of food would you recommend for him?