The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has issued a warning to captive primate centre Monkey Town in Somerset West near Cape Town last week. The SPCA said it found 14 violations of the Animal Protection Act after a recent inspection.
Image by Derek Keats
READ: SPCA issues warning to Monkey Town in Somerset West
Monkey Town owner Rene Grobler, however, told News24 that these findings are false and that the SPCA has made misleading statements.
‘To insinuate that our animals don’t have water is false. The SPCA had taken pictures of an empty water pond when there is more freshwater meters away [that] is not fair, in our opinion. The enclosure they took a picture of has two water ponds, and the other was filled. We will be removing these cement ponds permanently to prevent the public and the SPCA from thinking that there should be water in them,’ he said.
Grobler also added that the State Veterinarian had inspected their premises last year for the centre to obtain their Public Display License. ‘We passed so many of these issues that the SPCA raised, yet we were issued our Public Display License, so we are very concerned as to why the SPCA has now logged these allegations against us,’ said Grobler.
The facility was given seven days to make changes to these issues or face prosecution.
Picture: Derek Keats
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