Caehopkin,
Abercrave,
Swansea Valley, SA9 1UD
South
Wales, UK
Tel +44 (0) 1639 730276
Email:-
desk@cefn-yr-erw.fsnet.co.uk
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If you would like to volunteer to help us care for our animals please click here |
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"I’m
a laboratory monkey. Get me out of here (please) Or is this my life forever ?" Pozzi's Christmas Wish Comes True |
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An
e-mail sent to Cefn-Yr-Erw marked Urgent was from GRAAL in France, asking
if it was possible for us to provide a home for a Crab Eating Macaque from
a French Laboratory. His name was Pozzi and if no home was found for him
by the end of December 2007 then he would be sent to another laboratory to
take part in a testing program. This e-mail reached us on the 6th
of December 2007. We
immediately replied to Graal regarding re-homing the unfortunate animal
and within a few days agreed to accept him. Straight away we set
about applying for the essential import papers so that he could go into
quarantine at our Sanctuary. Due to the Christmas Holidays however things
had to move quickly, if we were to meet the deadline, and DEFRA in the UK
pulled out all the stops so that we received the papers in just two days.
When we informed France that the papers were cleared and that Pozzi could
travel to the UK we were told however that the lab had no papers for him,
as they had lost them. Frantic
calls to the Ministry in At
Cefn-yr-erw we refused to accept that nothing could be done and contacted
CITES in the It
was clear that Pozzi should come to the sanctuary as soon as possible, but
then how should he make such a long 850 mile journey from the South of
France ? We decided that the best solution was for us to drive out
and collect him, but although our 4x4 will tackle the roughest terrain it
is not amphibious and there is a lot of water between France and the
UK. We contacted P&O Ferries who had previously assisted in
bringing our Chimp Ronnie from Germany and they very kindly agreed to
provide Pozzi with free passage. This was great news.
The
travelling problems were not all solved however, as Pozzi had known
nothing but life in a laboratory cage for 17 years, and we did not know
how he would react to such a long journey in a transport crate in the back
of a vehicle. Traffic noise and the movement of the vehicle could distress
him and so he would need to be constantly monitored. In Graham’s past
profession he had come up with the idea of a vehicle reversing kit
employing a rear mounted video camera and a monitor in the cab, that is
normally fitted to commercial vehicles. Looking on the Internet for
suppliers of this equipment he found a UK Company called Ring Automotive
in Leeds and Jan rang them and told them of Pozzi’s plight. Within
minutes they were back on the phone, glad to help. Jan had to explain that
it was now Monday and on Thursday morning
they had to set off to collect Pozzi, but Ring Automotive
ensured that one of their video monitoring kits reached Cefn-yr-Erw on the
Wednesday and Graham fitted it that night. |
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On
the Thursday we drove to South East France, 835 miles of thick fog, ice
and snow. When we arrived at a hotel in Grenoble at 3am the next morning
it was minus 7 degrees centigrade. After a few hours sleep we went on to
meet the GRAAL representative, Patrick, at 8am, who had driven through the
night to assist us at the lab. After a quick breakfast we set off for the
lab to secure freedom for Pozzi. It was not the easiest place to
find but Patrick did a marvellous job in locating it. Patrick dealt with the lab personnel, as they preferred to speak in French. Everyone was very tense and we were treated as undesirables ( they seemed to have the opinion that they were God’s chosen ones). Pozzi was sedated and transferred to his travelling crate. We found this strange, as we had been told that Pozzi was a pet, so why could he not be handled after 17 years of “love”?. We said nothing but placed him in his crate, loaded him into the vehicle, sorted the papers, and then left. |
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Pozzi at Cefn-yr-Erw |
The camera fitted into the back of the vehicle was perfect, we could see Pozzi throughout the whole trip and as it was also infra red we could even monitor him in the dark. This meant that we could keep going for long periods without stopping, saving him the stress of continuously opening the back of the vehicle to check on him. The journey back was much the same as going, and we arrived back at 3am on Saturday morning and settled Pozzi into the Hospital block, where he could be monitored in a suitable enclosure. As he had not had so much space before in his lab crush cage he took a while to get accustomed but he is now eating well. He didn't know how to get around the mesh or how to get to the floor from his platforms. |
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He seems to be a resilient little character and we expect his progress to continue. Cefn-yr-Erw and all its friends and supporters can be proud of Pozzi's Christmas gift. Not everyone will be getting a new life of freedom and the promise of many happy years to come.ish We particularly thank... THE PETTIFER TRUST for their generous support. ARISTON GAS BOILERS for providing the heating boilers for the new quarters RING AUTOMOTIVE for providing the monitoring system P & O FERRIES for providing the essential Ferry Services |
Pass the banana please |
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