Stafford residents need council licence to keep pet monkeys
Residents who want to keep a monkey as a pet will now need a council licence as part of new national regulations.
Stafford Borough is home to several primates, who reside at Trentham Monkey Forest and Gentleshaw Wildlife Centre, but it is not known at present by the borough council if any are being kept within domestic environments.
As of this month however, any private owners of primates are required to hold a licence from the local authority as part of new animal welfare regulations. In Stafford Borough new licence applications and future renewals will cost £300, in line with other fees for existing animal activity licences.
On Thursday (April 9), cabinet members were told of the changes. The full council will be asked at its meeting on Tuesday (April 14) to endorse and recommend the fee for primate licensing applications and delegate, to the Head of Regulatory Services, authority to administer and enforce the new legislation.
Councillor Ian Fordham, cabinet member for environment, told Thursday’s meeting: “From this month new animal welfare regulations make it unlawful to keep primates as domestic pets without a local authority licence. The aim of this is to ensure higher standards of animal welfare and protect the public.
“Licensed owners and keepers must henceforth meet strict zoo-level standards. Licences will be for a period of three years, or less if requested by the applicant.
“The council is required to make reasonable efforts to identify owners and ensure licensing monitoring and compliance. Regulations allow for the charging of fees and that’s done on a cost recovery basis – fees will be reviewed regularly based on officers’ time required.
“I should state that the borough has no known keepers of any primates in a domestic situation. We are however creating general awareness of the new regulations via a webpage and press releases.”
It is estimated by the RSPCA that there are around 5,000 primates, such as monkeys and lemurs, kept in domestic settings in the UK. Not holding a licence will be an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Pets that will require licences include marmosets, lemurs, squirrel monkeys, spider monkeys and capuchins. A vet and qualified officer will carry out an inspection of the premises they live in before a licence can be granted.
Stafford Borough Council has written to vets across the area to ask them to make any customers who keep primates aware of the requirement. Anyone with concerns about primates currently being kept in the borough should email [email protected].
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