A marmoset found screaming and unable to walk in Wales has been put down by the RSPCA after its owners failed to look after the monkey properly.
When Gemma Cooper, deputy chief inspector for the RSPCA, was called to the home, she saw Precious 'screaming and rolling around in a chaotic manner and unable to walk', the court heard.Jonathan Phillips, 54, and Laura Pittman, 52, have been handed a 10 year pet ban after the animal - named Precious - was found with a severe metabolic bone disease
Instead of living off a diet full of 'live insects, fresh fruit and vegetables and gum arabic' she was fed yoghurt, mealworms and fresh and dried fruit. Following the sentencing, Ms Cooper said it was a 'really sad story of a people buying an exotic animal on a whim and not knowing how to meet their needs'.
READ MORE: Milly the monkey who was flushed down a toilet and offered cocaine in campaign of abuse has a new lease on life after her rescue Advertisement Dr Ros Clubb, the RSPCA's head of wildlife said marmosets were 'wild animals and do not belong in people's homes'.