BC aims to control exotic pet industry

2008-01-01

Julia Caranci, National Post

A woman is mauled to death by her fiance's pet Siberian tiger. A man nearly loses his finger to a love-bite from a venomous pet cobra.

People frequently don't know what they're getting into when they take exotic and dangerous animals as pets, say animal rights activists. Now, the B.C. government is reviewing the law that governs the status of non-domesticated animals in the province -- something the B.C. SPCA says is long overdue.

"People don't often realize the inherent dangers and responsibilities of owning an exotic animal until it's too late, and the animal is either abandoned or it hurts someone," said Sara Dubois, B.C. SPCA manager of wildlife services. Thanks to a grant from the non-profit Vancouver Foundation, the B.C. SPCA will contribute its recommendations to this year's provincial government review of the Wildlife Act, announced back in April.

In the absence of specific controls on exotic animals, species such as tigers, lions, primates, crocodiles and venomous snakes are considered under the law to be as 'domestic' as cats and dogs.

But these animals are too often hard to control. In May 2007, 32-year-old Tania Dumstrey-Soos was clawed to death in front of her children by a Bengal tiger her boyfriend kept in a kennel at his private zoo near Kamloops, B.C.

Early this month, Jason Hansen, 36, was bitten by a pet cobra at his home in Surrey, B.C. While the bite was "dry" and the snake did not release venom, the neurotoxins in its saliva damaged the tissue in Hansen's hand, causing his finger to turn black.

Exotic animals are more prone to carry diseases like rabies, herpes, salmonella and SARS. They can be dangerous if they retain their predatory instincts. Wild species populations may be put at risk in their native countries due to exportation for the pet market. Many animals suffer and die during transport, and many owners cut them loose in the wild once the novelty wears off and they become too big -- or too risky -- to care for.

Robin Campbell, founder of the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre in Errington, Vancouver Island, said many people buy or import exotic animals when they are "small and cute" without really knowing how to take care of them. Once the animals get too large or difficult to handle, their owners often abandon them or drop them off at the nearest animal shelter.

A number of creatures not native to Vancouver Island have been brought to the centre in recent years, including foxes, red-eared turtles, snakes of all descriptions and exotic birds.

"It's usually after the owner has been bitten or chewed," he said. "It's a terrible thing." B.C. SPCA officials have no idea how many of these exotic animals are in B.C., because no one is keeping tabs on their numbers. SPCA cruelty investigators frequently attend calls at homes where large reptiles, primates and carnivores are kept as private pets in sub-standard conditions.

The B.C. SPCA hopes to come away from the Wildlife Act review with a list of animals prohibited from private ownership, proper care standards for animals not on the list, and increased public awareness of the inappropriateness of exotic animals as pets.