It calls on EU decision-makers to establish a positive list of species that are allowed to be traded and kept as pets as a way to limit the health risks caused by the private ownership of these animals. AAP is also urging the European Parliament to seize the opportunity provided by the current update of the EU Animal Health Law to properly manage specimens of unknown health status.

“After analysing the health status of the exotic animals that we rescue, we see that many of them are carriers of viruses and parasites that can be fatal to humans, with the situation being particularly alarming among primates,” warned Raquel García-van der Walle, AAP´s Head of Public Policy. “Despite the imminent threat to human health, in many EU countries owning potentially dangerous species as pets is perfectly legal.”

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