Former model Jodie Marsh won’t be granted a dangerous wild animal licence after she took her meerkat to the pub.
The 45-year-old founder of Fripps Farm in Lindsell, Essex, hoped to adopt eight ring-tailed, external lemurs but these dreams have now been dashed.
Uttlesford District Council deemed it was ‘not appropriate to grant the licence’ at this time, although Jodie plans to appeal.
The farm, which has been running since 2020, looks after over 250 animals including alpacas, emus, owls, and reptiles.
At a licensing and environmental health committee meeting over the wild animal licence on Monday, it was claimed Jodie believed the farm animals to be her ‘personal pets’.
This was backed up by claims she had taken a meerkat she was hand-raising to the pub — twice.
She insisted the meerkat could not be left on its own and also reportedly took one of the owls to the pub too.
Councillor Richard Freeman, who chaired the licensing meeting, said: ‘The panel is concerned that Jodie Marsh has a perception, which she portrayed to the panel, that the animals in her existing care, and by extension the animals applied for under the licence, are her personal pets.’
There were concerns that the noise from the lemurs, which are known to shriek and grunt, would impact the community.
After the decision was made, Jodie told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she was ‘disappointed’ with the council and was preparing to take her application to court and appeal against the decision.
She said: ‘They are talking about stuff to do with animals that they don’t even know about, this is a panel of people who probably might have had a pet dog or cat, but have never dealt with exotics.
‘They are acting like these lemurs are coming out of a jungle into my garden, they are not, they are in someone’s private garden right now and all he wants to do is rehome them.’
In April 2023, Jodie’s farm was raided by the RSPCA over animal welfare concerns after the meerkat was spotted at the pub with her.
The Celebrity Big Brother star claimed that there was one person in particular who had it in for her and it was taking a toll on her mental health.
She said at the time to The Sun: ‘This campaign against me is taking its toll. I have been forced to pull out of a vegan festival in Oxford this summer because of threats.’
In a further statement posted on Instagram, Jodie wrote: ‘Meerkats cannot be left alone and do not do well alone, so in the first few weeks that I had her, I took her everywhere with me.
Meerkat Mabel slept on her lap during their trip to the pub and Jodie stated that she was ‘never distressed’ there.
‘I used to wake her up to feed her and then she would snuggle up on my lap again. It is not illegal to take a meerkat in a pub and I did my best by her.’
At the meeting a spokesman for Uttlesford District Council said the decision was based on ‘relevant information and the legislation.’
‘Given the applicant has a right to appeal the decision to the magistrates’ courts, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further.’
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