Overview
- A female common marmoset was discovered hidden inside a metal bird cage wrapped in a laundry bag on a 302 bus in Kensal Rise last Friday, and the driver alerted Metroline staff who contacted the RSPCA.
- Bus staff kept the animal calm and handed her to an exotics vet for a health check, and the marmoset — nicknamed Oyster — has been cleared medically and rehomed at a specialist sanctuary.
- The RSPCA is leading inquiries and is reviewing CCTV and passenger scanning logs with Metroline to try to identify who boarded the bus with the laundry bag.
- PETA has offered a reward of up to £3,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the abandonment case.
- Campaigners note that new primate licensing rules introduced in England in April require owners to apply for licences, and charities warn that some keepers unable or unwilling to comply may illegally abandon animals, which is a prosecutable welfare offence.