Germany nationalises Justin Bieber's monkey Mally after the pop star fails to claim him

Justin Bieber’s pet monkey is set to become property of Germany after the Canadian pop star failed to produce the correct vaccination and import papers for the animal.

Mally the monkey was seized by German customs on 28 March and taken into an animal shelter after Bieber arrived in Munich without the correct documentation for his pet.

He was given a deadline of midnight Friday 17 May to produce the documents to claim Mally, but has failed to do so.

Thomas Meister, a German customs spokesman, said that no official documents had been received following a bank holiday weekend. He added that customs authorities will formally transfer ownership of the animal to the German state today.

Bieber will then have six weeks to contest the decision. It was not immediately clear when authorities will make a decision on the monkey's permanent home.

The pop star’s decision to abandon his monkey comes days after he hit back at critics at the Billboard Music Awards for focussing on his “bull” backstage antics and not the “craft” of his music.

“This is not a gimmick, and I’m an artist, and I should be taken seriously. And all this other bull should not be spoken of,” he said.