Richmond Review, April 26/03

By Chris Bryan
Val Lofvendahl once had a five-foot long iguana.
Today, she has a seven-inch bearded dragon that, at its biggest, will only be about 20 inches.
A self-described “reptile enthusiast,” she’s supportive of the approach the city is taking to pet store regulations.
“It really looked like they were going toward the alternative rather than a complete ban,” said Lofvendahl, a Richmond resident, commenting on discussions at Tuesday’s general purposes committee meeting. “There’s still people in Richmond that want them whether you want them or not.”
Richmond’s bylaw does not allow the sale of exotic pets, but the wording is grey—something that didn’t become an issue until Super Pet, a store that sells a lot of reptiles, applied for a business licence for its 18,000 square foot store on 4551 No. 3 Road.
Council is clarifying the bylaw, and will likely ban the sale of large, dangerous reptiles such as boa constrictors and pythons. But before other exotic pets are added to the city’s list of what local pet stores cannot sell, staff and council plan to consult the pet industry and animal welfare groups.
“Everybody seems interested in working with us,” Mayor Malcolm Brodie said.
“Therefore we didn’t need a ban, we just needed to set out expectations.”
(“Exotic” can be defined as anything that is not traditionally domesticated, and not found locally, such as those covered by the province’s Wildlife Act.)
Christine Schramm of the Rainforest Reptile Refuge Society would love to see an outright ban.
“They’re wild animals,” she said. “They don’t belong in captivity. I think it’s cruel to keep an animal in a cage for your own pleasure.”
Her facility, located in Surrey, currently houses between 350 and 400 animals that have been surrendered by their owners. Among them are 80 red-eared slider turtles—so many that she’s now turning them away.
Schramm estimates that as much as 90 per cent of exotic pets die either in transport or storage before they are sold.
Local Super Pet store manager Cheri Simmons supports a clarification of the regulations and a ban on certain animals.
There are many reptiles her company considers inappropriate for sale, she said, adding that she is putting together a “prohibited animal list” for the city to consider.
Super Pet sells tortoises, lizards such as the leopard gecko and the bearded dragon, and the ball python.
They don’t carry any venomous reptiles, boa constrictors, reticulated pythons or iguanas and also only buy animals bred in captivity.
Staff will present a report early next month outlining what animals could be on the city’s banned list.
They will also present information on health risks animals may pose (such as poisoning), and make suggestions about the options for compulsory literature pet stores could provide when a purchase is made, on subjects such as care and feeding.
“If you buy a one-foot snake and you’re told it’ll grow to five feet, you know what you’re getting into,” Brodie said.
But Debra Probert of the Vancouver Humane Society believes education is a “waste of time.”
“There’s absolutely no way to enforce it,” she said, adding that regardless, education can’t lead to the living conditions these animals require.
“They’ve evolved over centuries to a specific set of circumstances. You can’t re-create that in your living room.”
Simmons said her store posts information on all its cages explaining how big the animals become, as well as the environment and feeding they require.
“We love animals and we’re not interested in making life miserable for animals, that’s for sure,” she said.

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