A London bus driver discovered a caged monkey hidden in a laundry bag onboard his vehicle last week. The marmoset, nicknamed Oyster, is thought to have been dumped by its owner, prompting animal welfare officers to warn of further abandonments as a result of a recent change in the law surrounding the keeping of primates in England.
Abandonment Fears
The driver of the number 302 bus found the terrified animal towards the end of the route from Mill Hill Broadway to Kensal Rise in north-west London, on Friday morning. A mother had been trying to disembark with her child in a stroller but had been unable to pass as a large laundry bag was blocking the way, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).
The monkey, which has since been checked by a specialist vet and deemed healthy, was taken back to the bus depot in the nearby suburb of Willesden, where staff subsequently contacted the RSPCA. Oyster was found inside a small, white, metal bird cage which had been wrapped inside a plastic, chequered laundry bag, with handles, so was well concealed.
No one noticed anything unusual on the bus before the monkey was discovered but the RSPCA will be looking at CCTV and the logs for scanning on and off the bus to see if they can locate the person who left her onboard. It was clearly intentional, according to the RSPCA.
New Primate-Keeping Laws
Oyster’s abandonment is likely to be the “first of many,” following legislation which came into effect in April. The new rules mean all primates in England must now be licensed to ensure they are kept in conditions which meet “zoo-level standards”, effectively amounting to a ban on keeping primates as pets, the government said after the law was passed.
An estimated 5,000 primates are currently kept as pets in the UK, according to authorities. The RSPCA said that there has been little “uptake” of the new licenses, raising concerns that many owners will instead either keep the animals in illegal conditions or abandon them.
Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
