A female common marmoset, named Oyster, was discovered abandoned in a laundry bag on a 302 bus in Kensal Rise, north-west London, on Friday. The discovery has ignited a debate over the effectiveness of new UK legislation, enacted in April, which mandates that all pet primates in England must be licensed and microchipped.
A fellow passenger alerted the bus driver after noticing an obstruction caused by the laundry bag. The driver subsequently contacted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). Upon discovery, the marmoset was found to be stressed and dehydrated, having been left with only a small amount of apple for sustenance. Oyster is currently recovering at a specialist sanctuary, where she is acclimating to a new environment.
The incident has drawn sharp criticism from animal welfare advocates who fear that the new, stricter licensing requirements—which carry the risk of unlimited fines or imprisonment for non-compliance—may be driving owners to abandon their exotic pets rather than register them. Clare Dew, a chief investigator for the RSPCA in London, described the abandonment as a “clearly intentional” act linked to the new legal framework.
However, experts emphasize that the welfare crisis surrounding exotic pets long predates the recent legislation. Alison Cronin, director of Monkey World, noted that social media continues to mislead the public into believing that wild primates are suitable pets. While the government estimates that approximately 5,000 primates are kept as pets in England, welfare groups like the RSPCA have documented 238 cases of primate neglect and cruelty between 2021 and 2025.
Evie Button, an exotic animal expert at the RSPCA, highlighted the extreme difficulty of meeting a primate’s biological needs in a domestic setting, noting that they require complex social structures and space that human companionship cannot replicate. Chris Lewis, a policy manager at Born Free, urged the government to bolster enforcement of the new laws, arguing that the success of the licensing mandate depends entirely on public awareness and consistent regulatory oversight.