Marmosets from Croatia Transferred to Spanish Sanctuary: “They Aren’t Pets”

August the 22nd, 2026 – Two marmosets kept as pets in Croatia have been transferred successfully to a proper Spanish sanctuary in which they can enjoy normal lives. One message has been clearly put across: They are not pets.

After having spent nearly six years in miserable captivity in Croatia, two marmosets named Mini and Rio have finally arrived at a safe Spanish sanctuary. Index reports that Animal Friends Croatia (Prijatelji životinja) attended their departure to the Spanish Primadomus sanctuary run by the Animal Advocacy and Protection (AAP) organisation, where they are currently in mandatory quarantine. The association’s statement is reported in full.

“Although at first glance this seems like a story with a happy ending, this international transfer actually exposes the lack of legal regulation and the flourishing of a dangerous black market in exotic animals in Croatia. Monkeys are sold through classified ads even though they are wild animals that are not suitable to be kept as pets. Instead of dealing with the problem only after an animal has already been acquired, we need to prevent such situations from arising in the first place,” Animal Friends Croatia said.

Mini and Rio originally arrived in Croatia from a breeder just across the border in Slovenia. An earlier attempt to send them to a sanctuary failed due to complicated CITES documentation issues. The marmosets were kept as pets with the intention of further resale through classified ads.

“these animals suffer a lot in domestic conditions”

They were taken in by Vedran Lončarić, who wanted to rescue them and find them more suitable accommodation. As there is no sanctuary for this type of animal in Croatia, in cooperation with Animal Friends Croatia he managed to arrange their transfer to the Spanish sanctuary at AAP’s expense.

“They attack, and although they’re only tiny, they can inflict serious injuries. It’s hard to even imagine their speed and intelligence,” Lončarić explained. The association confirms this and warns that ads often create a completely false picture of the needs of such animals. “Marmosets are promoted as cute little pets suitable for children. That just isn’t true, as these animals suffer deeply in domestic conditions because their specific needs for diet, temperature and space cannot possibly be met. When people can no longer control them, they release them into the wild or burden zoos, which are also not natural habitats for wild animals,” they said.

“please do not purchase exotic animals, they aren’t pets”

Animal Friends Croatia is glad that marmosets Mini and Rio are now in appropriate conditions. However, they stress that it is unacceptable that for every wild animal that ends up as a pet, a solution is only sought afterwards. Venomous snakes, wild cats, monkeys and other wild animals are neither goods nor pets.

“We’d like to call on the public not to buy exotic animals and not to support the cruel trade in living beings that can end up in unsuitable conditions or be abandoned when keeping them becomes too demanding. Anyone who has the conditions can help by adopting an abandoned dog or cat,” they emphasised. As the only systemic solution, they demand the urgent introduction of a Positive List – a list of species that have been expertly assessed as suitable to be kept as pets. Such a system would prevent some of the problems that are currently only addressed after an animal has already ended up in private ownership.

It would also reduce the black market in exotic animals by as much as 60%. They cite neighbouring Italy as a positive example, which bans the keeping of all wild animals, and note that eight EU member states already use this model. Animal Friends Croatia is therefore once again calling on the competent institutions to introduce a Positive List into Croatian legislation.

The public is therefore being invited to sign a petition for the introduction of this list at the level of the entire European Union. More information about the Positive List and the problems of keeping exotic animals as pets is available at www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr.

 

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