Bieber urged to give up monkey

Justin Bieber has been urged by a German animal shelter holding his pet monkey to "do the decent thing" and put the pet up for adoption.

The capuchin monkey was seized by German customs earlier this month when the 19-year-old singer failed to produce the necessary customs documents after landing in Munich for his European tour.

Bieber - who left Mally in quarantine at a Munich animal sanctuary and returned to Los Angeles to perform more shows - was given a deadline of four weeks to collect his monkey, or it would be placed in permanent care. But this has now been extended indefinitely while his management completes the paperwork.

But animal shelter boss Karl Heinz Joachim, 64, warned Mally could suffer mental damage if it spent months in quarantine, and it needs the company of other monkeys.

The monkey was given to Justin for his 19th birthday last month from music producer Jamal 'Mally Mal' Rashid. He had been taken away from his mother when he was only nine weeks old. Normally capuchin monkeys remain with their mothers for at least the first year of their life.