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Reptile Guy wrangling with authorities over gator rescue

http://www.theprovince.com/technology/Reptile+wrangling+with+authorities+over+gator+rescue/4024819/story.html

Reptile Guy wrangling with authorities over gator rescue

By Lena Sin, The Province December 24, 2010 Comments (14)

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/technology/Reptile+wrangling+with+authorities+over+gator+rescue/4024819/story.html#ixzz19lh6kpAN

Mike “the Reptile Guy” Hopcraft is hopping mad that he’s being investigated after rescuing an alligator — even though he received verbal permission from authorities to do so.

After a much-publicized and successful relocation of a female gator from Port Kells to Abbotsford last Tuesday, reptile rescuer Hopcraft thought he’d be spending a peaceful Christmas with his new friend.

He says the Ministry of Environment gave him verbal approval to transport the animal on Dec. 21 to his rescue facility in Abbotsford.

But one day after the rescue, a conservation officer and Abbotsford police paid Hopcraft a visit to inform him he was being investigated for failing to obtain permits for transportation and possession of the animal, he says.

“I save animals lives and I’m being treated like a criminal,” Hopcraft huffed over the phone to The Province.

The gator was formerly owned by Port Kells resident David O’Hara, who had to give up his exotic pet because he was moving to Thailand.

Hopcraft agreed to take in the gator at his reptile rescue facility and said he spoke on the phone with two Ministry of Environment staff a week and a half prior to the relocation.

At the time, Hopcraft said no one told him he needed to get a transportation permit. Rather, he was given approval on the phone of his plans to relocate the gator, he says.

“I called the Ministry of Environment and talked to two members at the same time — it was a conference call — and at that point in time, I was told I could do it,” he said.

The staff members only advised him that he needed to apply for a possession permit for the alligator, adds Hopcraft.

But he was under the impression he could submit the application after the move because the application requires photos and information of the alligator enclosure, which was only completed three hours prior to the move.

Hopcraft said he even invited the staff to witness the relocation, but no one took up the invitation.

“They give me permission to get something, I invite them to come take part in it and this is what I get,” says Hopcraft. “ . . . They told me nothing about a transportation permit.”

The Ministry of Environment confirmed that the Conservation Officer Service is investigating Hopcraft for the acquisition of the alligator, including transportation and possession.

However, no one was available to comment on what sparked the investigation or respond to Hopcraft’s claim that he was given verbal permission.

Hopcraft says his attempts to find out more information has failed, too, due to the Christmas holidays and is hoping the whole thing is just a big misunderstanding.

“I save an animal’s life and I get investigated . . . I’m hoping it’s a misunderstanding and nothing is going to happen with this because it’s ridiculous,” says Hopcraft.

lsin@theprovince.com

twitter.com/lenasin2

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