As some of you may know the Conservative party made a promise to ban the keeping of primates as pets in the UK during their term in Government, and we are campaigning to make sure that it happens. 

Thousands of primates are estimated to be kept as pets in the UK, many of which are confined to tiny cages, fed completely the wrong food, and kept isolated when their natural behaviour is to be in big family groups.  

Animals like capuchins, squirrel monkeys and marmosets are some of the most common pets, fetching thousands of pounds for dodgy breeders while they can live up to 40 years in some of the worst conditions imaginable. It’s time we make it illegal to own a pet monkey, and at FOUR PAWS we mean business.  

The Government has proposed legislation to ban the keeping of primates in captivity without a license that assures you are giving the animal regular and appropriate vet checks, and can prove that the animal is in a zoo welfare assessed institution or rescue centre. We agree with this ban, and although we appreciate many primates are already in homes, we hope to see a complete stop in primate sales online once this ban comes in.  

We've told the Government what we think of this legislation and we hope that they take our recommendations on board when they start drafting the Primates Bill. Although the process of a bill becoming law takes considerable time, we will keep the pressure on the Government to make sure that they keep their promise, and prevent the suffering of thousands of intelligent and wonderful primates.