http://www.chbcnews.ca/technology/Exotic+animal+restrictions+coming+into+force/2755069/story.html
Sandra McCulloch, Victoria Times Colonist: Thursday, April 1, 2010
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VICTORIA — If there's a tiger in your tank or a Burmese python lounging on the couch, you now need permits under a provincial law regulating ownership of dangerous, exotic animals.
By Thursday, owners of lions, tigers, venomous snakes, reptiles and other exotic pets were required to have submitted documentation including animal-welfare information, public-safety plans and photos of the animals and their enclosures.
"People who do not have permits but have these potentially dangerous animals run the risk of significant legal consequences," said Environment Minister Barry Penner Thursday. "Our goal is public safety and we've got to get control of what has been an uncontrolled industry in British Columbia."
Owners of 1,200 "controlled, alien species" are required to have appropriate permits or face fines of up to $250,000 and/or a prison term of up to two years. Animals are already in B.C. can stay but none can be imported without application for a permit.
Trouble is, many owners delayed applying for the permits and now the government is swamped, and is trying to get the remaining permit requests reviewed and permits issued.
Seized animals that cannot be placed in suitable facilities could be killed, said Penner. "Our last resort would be to euthanize the animal."
Some local owners of exotic pets don't like the new law, but they're abiding by it.
"We're just busy trying to get our permits in right now," said Jamie Bell, breeder and owner of 23 monkeys and lemurs near Cowichan Lake.
The new law means breeders like Bell have to apply to breed the animals, which she's worried will hamper conservation efforts.
She's also concerned people who own such animals won't apply for permits for fear the government will seize and euthanize them.
"A lot of people love their animals like they love their families," Bell said. The only way anyone would take away her monkeys and lemurs "is over my cold, dead body . . . and I mean that from the bottom of my soul," she said.
The new regulations are frustrating to Jason Smith, owner of Kritters and Fins pet shop in Victoria. He's currently boarding a Burmese python snake for a Victoria woman who has her house for sale.
"The realtor suggested it would be a good idea to get the snake out of there," Smith said.
Even though the female python named Amadaus is "the friendliest thing," Smith is not allowed to have it in view of his customers.
"She lives in a cupboard right now and it's a respectable size," said Smith. "I have to cover it with a sheet and nobody is allowed to see it. How is looking at an animal in a cage going to affect human safety?"
The B.C. SPCA, the Union of B.C. Municipalities and the Office of the Chief Coroner all requested provincial control of alien species.
Sara Dubois, manager of wildlife services for the SPCA, called failing to comply with the regulations irresponsible, saying it's a public-safety issue.
"We don't need backyard tigers in B.C. It's not appropriate for the animal and it's not appropriate for the community."
The burgeoning drug trade means dangerous animals such as poisonous snakes are being used to protect homes, said Dubois, yet hospitals are ill-equipped to cope with bites. "Our hospitals . . . can't possibly carry 1,000 anti-venoms for the species that are in B.C."