Monkeys returned to County Durham animal farm

Jul 11 2009 by Rob Kennedy, The Journal

WHEN a precious breeding pair of Goeldi monkeys were snatched from a County Durham farm, their owners feared they had seen the last of them.

But now police have found three-year-old George and Mildred cooped up in a cage in a house in South Shields.

Their owner, Denise Wayman, from Tweddle Animal Farm, in Blackhall Colliery, has been reunited with the pair, who are on the mend after their three-week ordeal.

Denise said: “We were over the moon when we found out, absolutely ecstatic.

“A cheer went up from all the staff and customers when we heard they had been found.

“To be honest we thought we had seen the last of them, we thought they’d probably have been taken out of the country.

“We certainly thought they’d have been further away than South Shields but we’re delighted to have them back.”

George and Mildred, described as marmoset-type monkeys, are worth around £4,000.

They were stolen from the farm on June 22 and hope was beginning to fade that they would ever be found.

But detectives in South Tyneside got a tip-off about strange noises coming from a house in Wapping Street, South Shields.

A warrant was executed and they found the two monkeys and the link was made with the break in at Tweddle Animal Farm.