The influencer Rita De Crescenzo posted on Tik Tok a chilling video, which she films herself with a little monkey of a few weeks (or perhaps even a few days old) dressed in pink, which she claims to have bought in Egypt, presumably taken from her mother (if still alive). We will not show the video so as not to give visibility to unacceptable behavior, which unfortunately can potentially be emulated.
Animals are not toys and the keeping of exotic ones is subject to restrictive laws
In recent years we have been witnessing a dangerous trend: keeping exotic animals with you. And if in Italy there are those who keep snakes and iguanas in the reptile house, in the United Arab Emirates, cheetahs, crocodiles, lions and many others are kept on a leash.
Exotic animal trafficking is the fourth largest trafficking in the world after weapons, drugs and waste. But it is far from free, as any wild animal, exotic or otherwise, requires its own particular habitat, which is difficult to reproduce in a domestic environment.
Therefore, tearing a wild animal away from its habitat is in all respects considered serious mistreatment. There is really very little “animal love” in behavior like this, but rather selfishness (at best).
The CITES regulation, which came into force way back in 1975, clearly explains that buying and selling exotic animals fuels the illegal trade in wild animals. And, as can be read in the summary on the European Commission website, it divides them into three categories:
Here, the species to which the monkey “purchased” by the influencer belongs is found in Annex II.
Furthermore, in addition to being an aberrant behavior for animal welfare, selling, importing and keeping wild animals is a risk to public health: for this reason, Regulation (EU) 2016/429 was approved in 2016, which Italy implemented in 2022 and which aims to combat the trade of many species of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles which, torn from their habitat or often raised in inhumane conditions, are then sold and spend a lifetime in captivity, forced into confined spaces and therefore to live in a way completely alien to their nature.
The chilling video (which we won’t show)
©Tik Tok
The TikToker, who claims to have bought the puppy in Egypt, begins the video by saying:
I bought the monkey and they sold it to me with the pink onesie but I’ll tell you: I don’t know if it’s male or female. What do we call it? Mimi or Sara?
According to what you stated, what you boast about would be legal in Egypt socialbut in reality it is far from true: Egyptian law, in fact, says exactly the opposite.
The authorities have already been alerted: we now wait for them to do their duty.
