Help Monkeys in Wales. Introduce legislation equivalent to England's Primate Licensing regulations.
Open for signatures until 16 March 2027.
88 signatures
- More than 250 signatures: considered by the Petitions CommitteeNot reached
- More than 10,000 signatures: considered for a debate in the SeneddNot reached
Primates are highly intelligent, long-lived, and social animals with complex physical, behavioural, and psychological needs. They require specialist care, appropriate housing, companionship of their own species and expert veterinary support that cannot normally be provided in domestic settings. As a result, many primates kept privately experience poor welfare, behavioural problems and long-term suffering physically and mentally.
More details
England introduced Primate Licences under The Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2024, requiring anyone keeping a monkey to meet strict zoo-level welfare standards through a licensing and inspection system. The regulations were introduced to improve welfare by ensuring only specialist keepers with specialist facilities can meet the legal requirements.
Wales has not yet introduced equivalent legislation. This creates inconsistent welfare protections across the UK and risks Wales becoming a nation that permits unscrupulous breeders to financially benefit from the abuse and neglect of monkeys and apes kept privately. This is already happening as witnessed by the continued sale of primates in bird cages in Wales that have no legal standards for their specialist care. We demand justice for those that don’t have a voice.
This petition is supported by Monkey World - Ape Rescue Centre.
Signatures by constituency
The Senedd's petitions website lists 42 of the 88 signatures under a Senedd constituency.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg | 6 |
| Caerdydd Penarth | 5 |
| Gŵyr Abertawe | 5 |
| Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf | 4 |
| Gwynedd Maldwyn | 4 |
| Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr | 4 |