In the Independant's Weekender Magazine" (Saturday 18th Feb), this article appeared....

www.independent.ie/lifestyle/taking-on-a...y-issue-3023835.html

Now..before clicking on the link be warned that the author is shown in a picture that some have said they find distasteful.

Although the article purports to be about snakes and crocodiles, the provisions within any suggested legislation on exotic animals might affect fish-keeping.

Now, there are some quite questionable facts in the article, but that is neither here nor there.

Here are a few quotes that would be taken from the article....(I have not taken these out of context....they are as stated)

“Through this exposure, I became a mascot of sorts for some who shared my hobby, although others find me annoying and I have even been called a liability by some.”

“There is no legislation directly licensing the keeping, buying or selling of any exotic animal within the pet trade in the Republic.”

“Applicants for licences should have adequate secure enclosures with a purpose-built secure building or room, sufficient 'bite protocol' and medical management information for their local hospital, plus personal and public liability insurance.
Out of this licensing system a national database of all animals, breeders, keepers and suppliers could be maintained to protect animal welfare and the environment.”

“When a fatality occurs, out of fear and in typical Irish government fashion, a blanket ban on all exotic animals will be applied.”

I have been in communication with some of the people in the herpetology world, and we agreed that it would be interesting to see what fish-keepers thought, and would fish-keepers be willing to be on a platform of consultation if needed.

As a point of fact, I, on behalf of the Herpetologoical Society of Ireland sent communication to the Minister of State (and other agencies) 2 years ago on a matter of effective consultation if (or when) specific exotic animal legislation were to come into place in ROI.

This is not purely a case for the herpetology world to discuss or to dictate.

What do people think?

Ian

ok i can see the need to legislate for venomous snakes, and potentially dangerous animals and i'm not talking dogs, but having heard of big cats being held privately in the north of the country does provide food for thought also with venomous animals why keep them or allow them to be caught if there is no anti-venoms available, i know there are people out there and they have the knowledge and facilities to properly take care of these creatures and to these i say kudos, what i object to is the amount of idiots out there who neither research or provide properly for such exotic pets... ie the pet is some sort of status symbol no more no less, and being kept more as a trophy rather than someone who is interested in conservation and the welfare of the creature.. this is just my 2 cents
Seamus

Many thanks for posting your comments, Sheag.
Good points raised.

ian

IMO, these regulations should be implemented long ago. The paradox is that if you want bring the dog, for example, Polish, you need a chip, a passport and a study performed at least six months before departure (six month quarantine for the dog, it is a joke), and poisonous spider I can buy over the Internet without any problems.

Just my tuppence worth but apart from the distasteful pose I found the article to be interesting and well written. I am not an expert on exotic animals so cant comment on what statements are questionable or not but it makes perfect sense to have mandatory licensing for dangerous animals. You have to have a licence for a dog so why not a 12 foot snake.
I can also see a logic in trying to control certain species of fish. As the article states just like Florida(with the snakes) our ecosystem could be affected by the introduction of fish that are not found here naturally.
It is happening in Africa where pacu were introduced to control excess vegetation and when the food source diminished they actually out-competed the other fish which subsequently died off. This had a disastrous effect on the river and food sources for the local people. (These Pacu are now believed to have become carnivorous)
There was a fantastic program on recently about it. One of the "River Monsters" documentaries.
Any way maybe I am taking too simplistic a look at it but I honestly cant see the Irish Government spending any time or money on this in the next ten years unless they could see a potential revenue source that they could use to further mess up the economy.
Pat

@Pat....if you keep fish, then you have experience with exotic animals.

Some good points made so far.

I, as a fish keeper, do not necessarily recognise one person as being a mascot representing me and my ideals.

I have to be careful on not allowing any mis-interpretation of my own personal views and my role I play in herpetology in ireland.

It would be a great pity if the government saw this as a potential to make money: they have a bigger duty to protect our native environment.

ian

@Pat....yes, I saw the River Monster episode where some official decided it was a good idea to introduce Colosoma pacu as an alien species.

Those fish will eat anything anyway....and a single fish has power to do real damage.

ian

I am a former member of the Herpetological Society of Gothenburg, and having lived in Sweden keeping reptiles at the time we got our legislation I have seen how it should not be done.

This was years ago and I hope I remember it correctly now.

Basically they brought in a law that was so unclear that each County interpreted it individually which meant completely different laws in different areas, highly confusing.

I'm from the westcoast and in Gothenburg they completely banned snakes over three meters as well as venomous snakes and put in a requirement of all snakes to be registered.

In reality this meant that in one County anyone could keep any snake no matter how poisonous while a few miles down the road a common corn snake had to be registered.

My personal view is that the law punished serious keepers that wanted to stay within the law while anyone who did not care still could acquire a venomous animal without registration.

If done correctly I would have hoped that a law could protect these animals as well as us humans as it seems far too common that people buy these animals without knowledge how to tend for them.

I really hope that Ireland does this properly, if they do.

Melander

@Melander....thanks for sharing your experiences.

There are some good examples of poor legislation being brought in.

I would be in favour of a fair legislation that sets-out as its prime aim to increase awareness, protect persons, protect animals, and protect conservation and our native habitats.

The dog license idea is not effective as a license as it is purely a money-maker.

The only legislation this government is interested in atm is the kind that brings in revenue.

There are so many different types of exotic animals that can be kept, it would cost em a fortune to regulate it.I do agree that some regulation is needed when someone wants to keep a dangerous animal or reptile, then they should be properly trained on how to deal with such animals for their own safety as well as others not to metion the animals welfare.And i feel that if every dog needs a licence then surely dangerous reptiles and spiders should also have one and be on a register.But back to my origional statement, unless its gonna make them money they wont be bringing in and such legislation not in the next few years anyway.

Cheers Stuart.

Just wondering as you mention reptiles and spiders (although there are very few dangerous spiders), what about dangerous fish or aquatic creatures?
eg potentially invasive fish, or venomous (eg venomous fanged blennies) fish or inverts, or the electric eel?