changes proposed to exotic pet rules

2007-09-18

Larry Pynn, CanWest News Serivce

The B.C. government proposes to enact legislation by early 2008 granting itself new powers over the keeping of exotic animals -- including large predators such as tigers -- to track their ownership and ensure public safety, according to a Ministry of Environment discussion paper on the first major review of the Wildlife Act in 25 years.

Chris Hamilton, a ministry conflict resolution expert heading the review, said the provincial interest in exotics to date has concentrated on the potential for disease transmission to native wildlife but not on reducing the potential harm to the public.

"A tiger is not wildlife, therefore under the Wildlife Act we can't do anything with it," he added. "There aren't a lot of regulations looking at human safety around exotics. The public safety issue is what we're looking at now."

In May, 100 Mile House resident Tania Dumstrey-Soos was killed by a tiger at her fiance Kim Carlton's privately owned Siberian Magic Zoo at Bridge Lake in the B.C. Interior.

"The situation in Bridge Lake gave us an example to look a little bit broader [at the issue]," said Hamilton, noting the ministry is looking at how other jurisdictions in Canada and the U.S. deal with exotics.

One idea is to add exotics to the Wildlife Act requiring people to have permits to keep exotics. This would allow the province to know where each exotic is located and ensure proper care and cage requirements for the benefit of the animal and the public.

"There's a lot of people with strange animals in their backyards," Hamilton said. "It's a tricky policy decision. Do we say we don't want any imports of these into the province?"

Among the proposed changes to the Wildlife Act:

• Emergency powers to allow a wildlife officer to enter property for the purpose of investigating or destroying diseased wildlife and alien or exotic species.
• Provisions to limit the import, and control possession and use, of live alien or exotic species that are not currently designated as "wildlife" under the Wildlife Act.

The provincial website dedicated to the proposed Wildlife Act changes --www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlifeactreview/discussion/toc.html -- contains posted comments from various individuals and organizations responding to the discussion paper.