By the end of her life, a marmoset named Precious couldn't walk.
She was screaming in pain. She wasn't even able to climb or leap, some of the most natural and important behaviors for monkeys like her.
Precious eventually had to be put down, her life cut painfully short at just 18 months.All this because of cruel, avoidable neglect by her owners.Sign the petition demanding that the local council where Precious' owners live extend their ban on animal ownership from 10 years to a lifetime!Before purchasing her,
Precious' owners made zero effort to educate themselves on what she would need -- not just to be happy and thrive, but to even survive.
They are thought to have kept her on a ridiculously insufficient diet for a primate, including yogurt and fruit. But marmosets need "live insects, fresh fruit and vegetables and gum arabic" (the latter being a substitute for sap and gum that monkeys would have in the wild).
This inappropriate diet led Precious to develop severe metabolic bone disease.
She couldn't stand. She couldn't jump. All she could do was drag herself around, rolling and screaming in pain.Not only was she painfully wasting away --
Precious was horrifically isolated, even though marmosets enjoy elaborate social lives in the wild. Precious withered away, suffering and alone, all because this couple in Wales thought it would be cool to own a monkey. Shame on them.
Obviously, this couple sees owning an animal as a one-way street. They reap the benefits of having a beautiful, intelligent creature in their possession. But they offer no support, care, or enrichment to that poor captive creature.
While they have been
charged and punished, part of their sentencing is just a 10-year ban on owning animals.
10 years just isn't enough, especially when they have shown no interest in self-education in Precious' case. That's why we're asking the couple's local council to ban them from owning animals for life -- it's the only way to keep every last animal safe.
Sign the petition if you agree!