Petitioning Downing Street

12.35.10pm GMT Thu 17th Dec 2009

Late last week Colin Breed, Member of Parliament for South East Cornwall met with colleagues for the UK charity Wild Futures, based at the Monkey Sanctuary near Looe, to petition Number 10 Downing Street to ensure that the Primate Code passes through Parliament before the General Election.

The petition, with over 30,000 signatures, asks the Government to bring forward secondary legislation to pass the Primate Code and restrict the private ownership of primates to "specialist keepers". Without it, hundreds of monkeys, lemurs and baboons will continue to live a lonely existence in inappropriate conditions.

Commenting, Colin Breed said,

"The primate code will bring much needed regulation, requiring licenses to keep primates as pets. I have seen the impact attempts to domesticate primates has on their welfare and quality of life. Some of the case studies Wild Futures has dealt with are truly shocking, and it is vital we find time in the Parliamentary schedule to prevent animals suffering further.

Secondary legislation should not be too difficult to enact, and I will raise my concerns with the Leader of the House early in the New Year, at Business Questions."