A monkey in a cage in a house.

The way in which a society treats its animals is a reliable way to judge just how humane and compassionate that society is. We are, as most people have known since childhood, supposed to be a nation of animal lovers.

Recently, I have seen and read much that suggests otherwise. One horror which has come to my notice is the puppy farm. Here, in many cases, the dogs are kept in disgusting conditions - insufficient food and water, no feeling of affection for the dogs and the over -breeding of the bitches until they literally die of exhaustion caused by this over-breeding.Those breeder-bitches are a sorry sight - litter after litter, sometimes of as many as ten puppies, each time they give birth. Their teats after feeding so many puppies, almost reach the ground.

In the paper today was a story about a woman who kept a monkey in a cage for ten whole years in her flat in Hampstead, North London . I know - madness. This woman brought Joey, a capuchin monkey from South America. Incredibly, it is legal to do so. She quarantined him for six months and obtained a Dangerous Wild Animals licence from the local council.

This woman was a fraudster who conned people out of vast sums of money on the pretext of being able to heal their terminal illnesses. Cruel, yes, but these people had a choice - Joey the monkey did not.

When Joey arrived in Hampstead he was a baby and in good health. Then Joey began to suffer from brittle bone disease and became progressively deformed. There he was in a cage in a house in Hampstead. Is it any wonder? And what of the mental torture, the trauma of a monkey being away from other monkeys and his natural habitat? Such an act of self -indulgence, for a con-woman in a wealthy area of London, absolutely defies reason, belief and any semblance of humanity.

Eventually, Joey was rescued. He was the most traumatised monkey the sanctuary who rescued him  had ever seen. He also had poor bone density, curved bones and a fused spine. It was thought he would never make it but Joey had a fighting spirit which he put to good use to save his life.

Joey now socialises with other primates and helps rehabilitate other distressed monkeys at the sanctuary.

Joey is just one animal and he has had a rare happy ending after much suffering. It is our duty as the most intelligent animals on earth to look after the animals with whom we share the planet and never ever to inflict unnecessary cruelty.