Punishment for corn possession

[NotoriouS]

Seems that people on this thread would much rather you let the guy you got it off release it into the wild rather than taking care of it yourself. YES the best option would have been to contact the authorities - that you didn't do and you'll get punished for it (deserved? yes). BUT, you did stop it from being released in the wild which would have caused more damage than it did whilst being under your care. End of story - let the haters hate (it's what they're there for).

 

[giggle]

I love a good debate
Heres my solution to the exotics problem. License all exotics and their keepers, hire more people to police the licensing system therefore creating more jobs and boosting our economy xD LOL
But seriously... why do we not learn our lessons? Some species of animal, regardless of diseases, are a hazard to our ecosystem.

Cats. Cane toads. Pigs.

Certain species will thrive in our UNIQUE ecosystem. Their success means at the very least extra burden on our own beautiful natives. Like New Zealand.. we are the only ones like us. Our species, beautiful and rare and worth protecting. Introduced snakes will compete with similar sized animals for the same prey, the same territory, shelter, nesting sites... and perhaps prey on species who are already under threat themselves.

Some species are too risky to be kept as pets... look what irresponsible cat owners have created.

Simply... the more people they let get away with owning introduced and possibly problematic species the more chance they have of letting history repeat itself and frankly we've been pretty darn stupid in the past. 'People' have proven they can not be trusted to care for and not release, discard or allow their pets to roam. I see a valid arguement for those wishing to keep an exotic being licensed and regulated very closely... even then... it only takes one or two hatchlings from registered parents of a registered breeder to slip under the radar to an unlicensed mate who 'promises' he will do the right thing...

I dont think your other animals will be destroyed especially if you request they are put into quarantine for testing at your own expense.... though that will be an expensive option. I wouldnt even think your licence would be revoked and certainly not perminantly. Even people who commit disgusting acts of cruelty towards animals rarely get banned from owning them and even if they do the bans usually span a year or two. But expect this to cost you a pretty penny

Anyway I wish you luck and hope you have learnt your lesson... Im sure you realise now what options you should or could have taken and that its not worth the risk of keeping an illegal exotic. And thank you for sharing your story.
Ari

 

[PhilK]

I reckon if you posses illegal exotics you should get what's coming to you, regardless of circumstance.

 

[borntobnude]

not sure how to go about this but i have a lovely photo of my daughter aged 7 at the time taken at a 4x4 show at homebush[ before we owned snakes ] the people said put this over you shoulders so dad can take a snap she did i did "dad can we have a snake like this "much to her surprise dad said YES ive always wanted one so i asked "its a corn snake " they said you can buy them from breeders . I know u cant we thought they were pretty , i think there was also a blonde mac they were trying to breed ignorance we now have stimsons and wouldnt want to threaten there existance in the wild by having corn snakes

 

[derekm]

One thing in your favour is that you were given the corn snake and didn't purchase it. I may be a purist but, given the variety and beauty of the native snakes that we are allowed to own, I don't think corn snakes are sufficiently great to warrant the hassle of illegally keeping an exotic, much less paying for it. On the other hand, I don't think you should question your neighbour's sanity either. Your neighbour was possibly following his ethical/moral sense in dobbing you in, just as you were in saving the snake from death or release. Either both of you can claim some justification for acting on your ethical/moral sense or neither of you can.

 

[Rhomany]

I'm actually crying after reading this.

Before you all get on the bandwagon telling me to enjoy my time in jail, get what I deserve, exotics suck, bla bla bla.....stop and put yourself in my shoes.

I've just been dobbed in by a mentally ill ex-neighbor for possessing a corn snake. Cops came round and it's basically up to NPWS now. I have a licence and keep two carpets on this. When I was given the corn I didn't know what it was (ignorance on my part) by this bloke working in a neighboring warehouse who didn't want it and was about to release it into the garden or kill it. ***? Everything deserves to live, he was real cute and experience with the carpets told me it should be easy to keep. Yes I was dumb to get something off licence but all I was really concerned about was preserving it's life, not how I was going to handle things afterwards. It wasn't until I did some research and found out what it was and that it was illegal that my dilemma began. Can't release it because of the impact on the environment and can't kill it due to morals. Don't know anyone else who wants it and can't sell on the open market. Don't want to take to zoo for fear of punishment so I just kept him. Over the years I have really grown to love him and the illegality forgotten. As far as snakes go they are funny, beatiful and interesting and quite different to the pythons in their character and ways.

I'm not a criminal, just a very soon father-to-be who loves animals and believes everything deserves the right to life, however damned by outmoded, didactic and blinkered government policy it may be. I read there was an amnesty a few years ago and that some people get given case-by-case licences to keep pest species. My snakes don't interact with each other to prevent any disease transfer like mites and are locked up under pad-lock and key, escape proof enclosures.

Does anyone know from experience what the real punishment might be? Advice on what to address in court would also be appreciated. Serious, mature answers only please people. I would hate for them to kill him or to lose my licence for the other snakes. They are my dearly loved pets - not a commodity.

Exotic or not, it's still someones pet and it breaks my heart to know what this owner has gone though when all they wanted to do was keep an animal safe and happy. Killing a persons beloved pet is wrong even if it is owned illegally. I think as long as the person has made sure the snake hasn't been in contact with any native fauna and doesn't have any diseases they should be able to keep it. Imagine if someone killed your pet, I think that's why it hurts me so much. It's like killing someone dog or sometimes even someones child depending on the relationship between owner and pet.

 

[Bushkaboo]

Do you know where the snake is now? Can you speak to your local member of parliament? Or a wildlife park somewhere to see if they can take him? Maybe RSPCA? They claim to help all creatures great and small. Regardless of the written word, I'd be devastated. I'm surprised the police came around. Why wouldn't NPWS send people out? Nasty ex-neighbour. I hope you have some luck keeping your snake alive. In Queensland it's a $30,000 fine if you have a ferret or a rabbit, but people still do. In fact, they sell the food and all the goodies in various pet shops. Makes you wonder.

 

[HoffOff]

Nice, a 09 thread.

 

[ajandj]

i want to know what happened. jail,fine?? what?? it's like a soapy that goes on..

 

[HoffOff]

Probably enjoying the company of big bubba.

 

[Em1986]

Thanks to you guys for digging this up, i would like to know what happened in Kupper's case?


My dad and i were actually just discussing this topic on the weekend. He thinks that if the government wants to stamp out the illegal import of exotics then they should be made legal with all sorts of precautions etc or people should be granted a special licence to keep them. He also bought up the fact that people have been breeding them here for many years and it would take a long time to eradicate exotics as it is.

There are breeders of natives that breed and sell corn snakes on the side and have been doing it for many years! I know of one that does this or at least used to and they are by no means a 'small' collector!!!!!!!

I think that something needs to be done about this, i'm not sure what needs to be done to make it as safe as possible but i think that it's crazy that nothing has been changed. I don't think larger 'dangerous' species should be allowed in such as anacondas though lol.
I have read about californian squirrels being legal to keep here (vaccinated, microchipped and de-sexed) and have seen them for sale, we have heaps of imported fish species that are likely released into the wild, many exotic bird species etc.
So why can't they do something more about reptiles? Quarantine them, test for diseases etc, test them on a regular basis and euthanise and cremate any sick exotic that can't be treated, microchip them, have a special registry for them (like dogs and cats), fine owners if their exotic is found 'wandering', make owners prove their exotic actually died (to prevent releasing them), make owners prove death by having to provide a cremation certificate, have specific housing requirements, prevent owners from breeding by restricting the number and sex of animals, not allowing more than one species of exotic (like the companion animal licence, only 1 animal is allowed), have specified breeders of exotics and closely monitor them. These may all be possible options to better try to control ownership of exotics.

I recently reported 2 ads that were placed on a website (not here of course) that were selling ball pythons and royal rock pythons and they (the sellers) claimed they were in Sydney and SA. I did this to try to protect the general public that 'don't know any better' from being caught with these snakes and also to protect them if it was a scam ad. The website deleted the ads so they must have read my reason, i stated that they were illegal exotic species.

For years and years i wanted an albino burmese python but with all the variety to choose from with natives and knowing there are a lot more exciting things to come makes me very content with what i am legally allowed to keep and what will be available to me in the future
Plus i would never have the space to house one or the strength to handle an adult burmese :lol: commonsense won that war!

 

[-Peter]

Its a shame this thread resurfaced, those of us who knew Kupper are still grieving since his execution under the former NPWS regime. The hurt just wont go away.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Its a shame this thread resurfaced, those of us who knew Kupper are still grieving since his execution under the former NPWS regime. The hurt just wont go away.

Ha Peter - many of us may grieve about the pain inflicted upon reptile miscreants... but there are PLENTY of self-righteous, high and mighty reptile keepers out there who love to celebrate their achievement of the moral high-ground when something like this comes up.

J

 

[mattyg]

it would be illegal to release it in australia anyhow and u would get in trouble for that. i would have have done nearly the samething.

 

[HoffOff]

it would be illegal to release it in australia anyhow and u would get in trouble for that. i would have have done nearly the samething.

That doesn't matter, what he did was illegal, he knew the consequences and still went ahead with it.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Incidentally, in my post above I was not condoning the breaking of any laws, just suggesting that there are many people who throw stones who might forget that they live in glass houses.

J

 

[Chris]

I misread this thread title, I thought someone was being punished for porn possession.... I was worried for a sec then

 

[Colin]

Exotic or not, it's still someones pet and it breaks my heart to know what this owner has gone though when all they wanted to do was keep an animal safe and happy. Killing a persons beloved pet is wrong even if it is owned illegally. I think as long as the person has made sure the snake hasn't been in contact with any native fauna and doesn't have any diseases they should be able to keep it. Imagine if someone killed your pet, I think that's why it hurts me so much. It's like killing someone dog or sometimes even someones child depending on the relationship between owner and pet.

you recently joined this forum and this is your second post concerning a 2009 thread??
Im just wondering.. do you have a corn snake?

 

[mysnakesau]

Colin at least you know the SEARCH button does actually work.

 

[K3nny]

I think that something needs to be done about this, i'm not sure what needs to be done to make it as safe as possible but i think that it's crazy that nothing has been changed. I don't think larger 'dangerous' species should be allowed in such as anacondas though lol.
I have read about californian squirrels being legal to keep here (vaccinated, microchipped and de-sexed) and have seen them for sale, we have heaps of imported fish species that are likely released into the wild, many exotic bird species etc.
So why can't they do something more about reptiles? Quarantine them, test for diseases etc, test them on a regular basis and euthanise and cremate any sick exotic that can't be treated, microchip them, have a special registry for them (like dogs and cats), fine owners if their exotic is found 'wandering', make owners prove their exotic actually died (to prevent releasing them), make owners prove death by having to provide a cremation certificate, have specific housing requirements, prevent owners from breeding by restricting the number and sex of animals, not allowing more than one species of exotic (like the companion animal licence, only 1 animal is allowed), have specified breeders of exotics and closely monitor them. These may all be possible options to better try to control ownership of exotics.

For years and years i wanted an albino burmese python but with all the variety to choose from with natives and knowing there are a lot more exciting things to come makes me very content with what i am legally allowed to keep and what will be available to me in the future
Plus i would never have the space to house one or the strength to handle an adult burmese :lol: commonsense won that war!

lol you don't want an anaconda but want a yellow-white snake close to that size?
anyway, what you proposed although nice and all has a fundamental problem, control

as it is, doesnt look like the government cares enough or have the resources to enforce existing laws, throwing in exotics into the mix on top of that in addition to the red tape involved, people would probably still keep them illegaly (as in not following the specific guidelines, i'd bet more than a few right now keep natives without a license for various reasons e.g. not wanting to pay the reptile licensing fee)

And since it's "legal" (hypothetically), theres nothing to stop individuals/companies going for a quick buck to make money without regard for the law or Australia's native diversity.

Not saying its a bad idea, but don't think its suitable at the moment. Maybe in the future, who knows?

Oh and going by the original poster having only 3 posts, he joined APS for legal advice? :?