A grandmother walking a monkey in a bright skirt on a leash has repeatedly become a social media sensation in Tashkent. While some users continue to adore the exotic pet on the city streets, others ask a logical question: how legal is it to keep a wild animal at home and take it for walks around the city?
Podrobno.uz correspondent sought clarification from human rights activist and public figure Elena Babenko, who regularly covers legal and ethical aspects of animal keeping. The expert emphasized that behind the visual exoticism lies a legal context. First and foremost, it is necessary to establish the species of the animal, its origin from the owner, and the legal grounds for walking it in an urban environment.
According to the published video, the animal walked is presumably a representative of the macaque genus of the Cercopithecidae family. Thus, it is a wild animal requiring a special maintenance regime. The legal framework is unambiguous. According to the Rules for Keeping Wild Animals in Populated Areas (registered by the Ministry of Justice on June 21, 2012, No. 2373), keeping them without special permission from the Committee for Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change is prohibited. The law allows such species mainly in zoos or specialized nurseries with strict safety conditions and a full package of documents.
“A wild animal is not quite the same as a dog or cat. The very fact that an animal is tamed and behaves calmly near a human does not make it a domestic pet,” noted Elena Babenko. In addition to legal norms, the human rights activist draws attention to the ethical side of the problem. Keeping wild species in captivity requires creating a special environment, and the owner's responsibility covers not only the safety of passersby but also the physical condition of the pet itself.
“The law here is needed primarily for the well-being of the animals themselves, the preservation of biodiversity and human safety. Therefore, before admiring an unusual pet, one should find out where it came from and on what grounds it is kept,” concluded the expert, emphasizing that current rules are designed to prevent wild fauna from turning into “living toys.”
There have been no official comments from the ecological inspection or law enforcement agencies on this fact yet. Besides the legal and ethical aspects, there is a critically important factor — the threat to life. Keeping wild primates in domestic conditions often seems illusory safe, but failure to observe basic precautions has repeatedly led to fatal consequences.
A shocking incident occurred in July this year in Adygea. There, a primate that broke free fatally mauled an 84-year-old woman and severely injured her 39-year-old grandson. As the investigation established, on the territory of an ordinary country house, the family had set up an illegal nursery where ten monkeys were kept in captivity. The tragedy occurred during routine feeding: the pensioner opened the enclosure, after which the enraged beast jumped out and aggressively attacked the people. The injuries sustained by the woman were incompatible with life. Law enforcement opened a criminal case for causing death by negligence.
Despite the fact that videos of the primate being walked have been appearing on social media for several months, there has still been no official reaction from the ecological inspection or law enforcement agencies of Tashkent.
Source: podrobno.uz