Agreed on the primates license as long as its cheap enough to be viable. Max £50 a year. Inspections would be part of the license. I agree that primates should be allowed to be kept, in fact i hold my hands up saying id like to keep one myself at some point but only with the right set up and research.

The problem with DWA licenses is not only the cost but people in charge not wanting to let people keep them hence huge prices. The system should be set to a set price UK wide. However Cities should charge more compared to say a village in the middle of nowhere. The main problem i have with DWAL licenses is that anyone can get them. Although mentoring is a good idea there is not enough people who train others and their will always be a few that charge through the teeth and these people quite frankly can go to hell.

Personally i hate licensing. Being charged to keep an animal is ludicrous. However with how people keep their animals its sometimes required, let alone registration being needed in case a venomous animal escapes and the last thing we want is an army of idiots trying to show off their cobras.

However their is a chance for DWA licenses to go overboard, i can imagine the council trying to go idiotic on trying to make tarantulas DWA. However i will say the people running the DWA licensing are competent. The removal of mangroves for example was a good change and quite controversial but it was done because their was very little reason for them to be on the license. However councils are idiotic in pricing.

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lucifus@hotmail.com - feel free to add.

Sign My Petition: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Preachers/

I agree with a group being needed. We constantly hear of people saying "ban this, ban that!" but where do WE the KEEPERS get a say? We dont, and it makes me sick.

Granted there are people out there who keep animals and don't keep them correctly, but why should we have to suffer because some idiots couldn't be bothered to at least research the animals they intended to keep first!?!

Even regarding reptiles, there are constantly people on here posting "Hi, I just bought this, how do I look after it?" It just makes me wonder WHY exactly they bought the animal in the first place? Did they decide they wanted it first? Or see it in a shop and think, "oo thats pretty/hardcore/something that would impress my friends" It genuinely annoys me!

In regards to primates, I have a work colleague that turned to me last month and stated that he wanted a "pet monkey". I then asked what type of primate he wanted and he stated "I don't know what they're called but it's the one on pirates of the carribean". (We can all see where this is going Im sure). I then continued in explaining that he was reffering to a capuchin and asked if he knew what was required in order to keep one. The conversation followed as this:

Him "Yeah you can keep them in one of those big ferret cages, my mums friend has one"

Me "He has one?"

Him "yeah"

Much of my reply was something that should be saved for 18+ , but the basic jist is that I told him that he should have at least 2-3 and that they need a huge indoor enclosure connected to a huge outdoor enclosure and they needed lots of toys to keep them occupied and that the mans "pet" was probably a very sad animal indeed and that he should be ashamed of himself. He didn't believe me and hasn't spoken to me since

If a group is set up, count me in. I may have limited knowledge on a lot of things but the important thing is that I am learning and I'm loving every second of it! And I so hope that many others will do the same.

Sam

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clicky


Member number 4746!

Excellent posting Lucifus.

I think you are spot on, if the licencing was at an acceptable cost level, it would further encourage keepers to display the enthusiasm, motivation and responsibility of registering.

I was pretty lucky down here in Lincs for all my licences, with only an 8% increase every year with my first licence rolling in at £95. Five miles down the road from me, different region it was £75. But l was stunned when a client of mine said his licence was somewhere near the £1600 when he applied for a Kinkajous pair.

I was mortified when the vet turned up to my first ever inspection, for ten minutes l was allowed to enjoy a £235 fee, for me to tell him that 'no Racoons did not require the heat equivalent to a pair of reptiles in a viv!'

And to a certain extent l also agree about the actuality of licencing and whether it should be present to begin with. However because of the amount of inexperienced keepers out there, they just need regulating, but as l have said before in this thread and others, l can not fathom how on earth they are not only going to police and enforce the licence [hence why they do not want them] but an even harder task of how they believe they are going to enforce the actual codes of practice within the AWAct.

R

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Again l agree with you Sam.

The amount of enquiries l have had on Capuchins alone makes me want to shake the very life from some people!!

From harness trained to 'will they be okay in a cot beside me and the wife at night'

It pulls me down at times, and at other times, l just laugh. You try not to be humerous, but the things you hear - well you either laugh or cry or hold back the temper levels.

I think sadly that primates are the one species in the mammal world that really do have the most stupidist enquiries ever.

One chap said HE NEEDED a Capuchin because his wife had a very good set of knitting needles and wanted to get back into practice for the fair during the summer!

I was aghast and said what!!??

Oh yes, they are the right size for childrens sweaters!

They have their own coat sir!!

Nah, they can not like that! we can give them better colours!

The problem was that he was deadly serious and swore profusely at me and then promptly hung up!

R

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I agree on the council being idiotic part but the point is that the council shouldnt BE the ones to issue them full stop. However I have no issue whatsoever with licences existing.

That being said, a lot of councils do take the mickey and I cannot understand how one council can charge less that £100 for a licence, and another can charge over a grand.

There is DEFINITELY something going wrong here, and it's just another example of why most councils cannot be trusted with something like this, and should stick to naming benches after dead people and building statues to honour themselves.

What did they think you were going to do? Make a giant heatmat and feed them a mouse every week o.o ??

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clicky


Member number 4746!

LOL,

He wanted me [vet] to install a major heating element inside the outside enclosure.

I said, what do you normally do inspection wise?

Stables and horse!

Do you know absolutely anything about Racoons?

Yes, they need heat!

Why?

Because they will get cold during winter!

What!!?? These guys can paddle around 16 foot snowdrifts, naked, whilst we are wearing seven layers of cold and freezing our asses off!

Really?? Oh well l did not know that did l?

LOL

[Still chuckling over naming benches and erecting statues tho - very funny]

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I lost my faith in the british people when I began working for 118. I wouldn't trust half of them to look after a packet of crisps let alone a specialist care animal!

Holy cow are children that small where they come from o.o ! Yes I can imagine it now, capuchins queing up, his wife knitting away "please sir, I dont want to be black and white can I be purple instead?". Could almost be funny if it wasn't based on truth. Bloomin' 'eck!

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clicky


Member number 4746!

Hehehe Caerphilly council recently erected an 8ft bronze statue of Tommy Cooper...looks like a giant pedophile looming over the people of the town o.o I'll find you a picture...hehe

Maybe he thought they just turned the heating up when it got cold in the area of the world where the lucky beggars still get snow in the winter! Reckon he'd ever inspected anybody for a DWA before?

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clicky


Member number 4746!

Here ya go found one!
Now is that not THE scariest thing you've ever seen? I've seen children cry at the foot of this statue! Hell, I've been reduced to tears upon sight of it! Scary stuff o.o

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clicky


Member number 4746!

Oh my giddy God!!

What actually is it, l am surprised if pigeons dont drop dead during flight over it!!


No, there were not many of us with DWAL's.
In Lincs, at that time, there was only three of us, myself and a chap who had Squirrel Monkeys and Coatis, and in South kesteven, the Exotic Pet Refuge.

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