DEVOTED pet owner Mary Stanton has vowed to have her beloved pet Joe, a capuchin monkey, put down rather than lose him saying "he will die any way if he is taken away."

Mrs Stanton, 73, of Harrison Street, Blackburn, broke down in tears after she lost her appeal against Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's refusal to grant a licence for her to keep the pet she has cared for for 13 years.

Outside Blackburn Magistrates' Court she said: "Joe means everything to me and it breaks my heart to think he will be going away. I would rather have him put down."

Joe's fate now hangs in the balance - the most likely scenario is that he will be seized by the council and taken to live at the ape sanctuary, Monkey World, in Bovington.

The appeal was the last throw of the dice for Mrs Stanton who has already had to sell two of her pet Macaws to help pay the £3,000 legal costs of the case.

Earlier, the court heard from Doctor Alison Cronin, Monkey World's scientific director, who described conditions at Mrs Stanton's home as "chronic".

She said the environment in which Joe was living was totally unsuitable for an animal of this kind, notwithstanding the fact that he also needed a special diet, the companionship of other capuchin monkeys and room to exercise.

Mrs Stanton told the court she fed Joe on a diet of dog food, jam sandwiches and boiled eggs.

Dr Cronin added: "The capuchin monkey's entire existence revolves around being part of an extended family. Its overriding occupation is being together and living as a troupe of monkeys."

Mr Giles Cannock, on behalf of Mrs Stanton, said his client had a great appreciation of what was good for Joe because she had cared for him for 13 years.

He said she was "an eminently suitable person" to be allowed to keep a monkey.

Magistrates, after an hour-and-a-half's deliberation, disagreed, and said it was in Joe's best interest that the licence be turned down and that he should go to Monkey World to be with his own species.