Two monkeys have died after fireworks were set off next to an animal sanctuary, its manager has said.

Lianne Angliss, general manager at Hopefield Animal Sanctuary in Brentwood, lashed out at people lacking "common sense" for letting off fireworks close to their premises.

Marmosets Herman, 6, and Oleg, 10, suffered heart attacks on Saturday night (November 4), and were found dead on Sunday morning, Lianne said.

Jimbo, 12, the last marmoset at Hopefield, survived but was stressed out from not having his friends there, she added.

"I just can't fathom why they'd do it," Lianne said of people setting off fireworks nearby. "To have fireworks on your back doorstep - it was just ridiculous."

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Romford Recorder: Jimbo (front) with Oleg (right), who diedJimbo (front) with Oleg (right), who died (Image: Hopefield Animal Sanctuary)

 

Lianne said people in the area are well aware of the sanctuary, but claimed the problem persists.

She fears such occurrences will continue right up to the new year and the animals will suffer.

"I honestly don't know what we're going to do," she said. "There isn't really a fail safe plan of how you stop them from stressing - it's hard."

The animal sanctuary manager added that Herman and Oleg had no pre-existing health problems and were healthy a day before the fireworks.

"You can just tell when an animal is gone," she said of the marmosets after discovering them on Sunday.

Lianne said the fireworks went on all weekend, adding: "It was really really bad here, especially Saturday night."

She has called for the law to be better enforced and said the matter was reported to the police, but no action was taken.

"There's a law in place - it's illegal to let fireworks off within a certain proximity of livestock," she said. "But no one polices it, we did report it but nothing has been done."

Leafleting through people's doors and an awareness campaign after the death of horse Popkei from fireworks on November 5 in 2019 had not done enough to deter people, Lianne said, who called for controlled use.

"We've got kids letting them off in fields - how unsafe is that?" she added.

Essex Police has been contacted for comment.