# Rspca and reptile keeping



## Pete Q (Dec 4, 2007)

From Chris Newman.

Wild Futures [formally know as the Woolly Monkey Sanctuary] in Cornwall is a leading Animal Rights organisation that along with many other similar organisations, such as the Bourn Free Foundation, is trying to ban the keeping of so called exotics as pets. Periodically they hold what is called “Exotic Pet Trade Day” sponsored by the delightful Elaine Toland of the Animal Protection Agency and this year cosponsored by the RSPCA, at least according to the literature! 

I attended the last meeting but unfortunately was not able to attend this one as I had a prior engagement. The last one was as you would expect not an entirely accurate or impartial view of the trade or keeping, to suggest that it was disingenuous would in its self be disingenuous, it was laughable, the level of ignorance and distortion of the facts to suite their agenda simply beggars belief. 

Below are the notes circulated after this years meeting, whilst it is extremely disappointing to see the RSPCA aligning themselves with fanatical [extremist] organisations like the Animal Protection Agency, I though the information presented by the RSPCA was certainly interesting. I think is shows some subtle changes emerging from the RSPCA but also shows just how ill-informed they are, their objective is to educate keepers, very laudable, but first they need to educate themselves! 





*Wild Futures Exotic Pet Trade Day May 12th 2012 – Notes taken on talks given by guest speakers*​


Speaker: Sophie Adwick, RSPCA



Notes on talk:

· A huge variety of reptiles (and other wild animals) are kept as pets. Any wild animal can feasibly become part of the pet trade if there’s sufficient demand. Within the trade there are trends in popularity, for instance due to films (e.g. terrapins after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies) or novel colour patterns.

· Few laws exist in the UK to control trade/keeping of wild animals as pets. In terms of keeping, the main laws are the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and Dangerous Wild Animals Act. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) is enforced by the COTES Regulations in the UK and these, together with the AWA to a lesser degree, cover trade in wild animals.

· CITES is an international agreement signed by 175 countries, which offers differing levels of protection to species that are at risk of extinction as a result of international trade. However, not all species are listed on CITES and only a very small proportion of reptiles are covered. 

· No one knows exactly how many and what types of reptiles are being kept as pets in the UK. Estimates vary widely from ~800,000 snakes/lizards/turtles/tortoises (Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association, 2011) to over 8 million reptiles/amphibians (Federation of British Herpetologists, 2008).

· The popularity of keeping reptiles seems to be increasing. PFMA estimates have increased yearly and Pets at Home has started selling certain reptiles, which they would not do unless there was demand.

· There are several possible reasons for this increase: 
o Influence of TV/film
o 2005 ban on the import of wild birds into the EU (are traders and keepers switching to reptiles?)
o Seen by some as ‘easy to keep’ and low maintenance
o Novelty value

· Reptiles kept as pets are either bred in captivity or taken from the wild. The RSPCA has serious concerns for the welfare of animals that are wild-caught because of the ways in which they are captured and transported. For this reason we are opposed to trade in wild-caught animals and also to trade in captive bred animals where suffering takes place at any point in the chain.

· Imports of live reptiles into the EU and UK appear to have increased considerably over the last few years. Source data (i.e. whether the animals have been wild-caught or captive bred) only exists for CITES-listed animals that are imported; an increased proportion of these appear to have been wild-caught.

· Welfare concerns exist for reptiles kept as pets. Animals can suffer and die before being exported (particularly if wild-caught), during transport and once on sale as pets. Pet shops may keep animals incorrectly, perpetuating bad care. The internet increases the potential market, enables distance selling and is extremely difficult to police. Illegal trade compounds the issues due to the need to hide animals.

· Once kept as pets, reptiles can suffer and/or die as a result of incorrect care. Growth defects, injury and infection can be caused from problems such as incorrect diet, unguarded heat sources and incorrect humidity levels. A lack of UV light and incorrect diet can lead to metabolic bone disease, which is a relatively common problem in reptiles.

· Other factors compound the situation:
o It can be difficult to find specialist vets and these can be expensive
o Misconception that reptiles are ‘easy to keep’ – this can lead to welfare issues if this assumption is made due to a lack of knowledge
o Can grow very large, become aggressive and live a long time

· RSPCA data suggests that there is a welfare problem. There has been an increase in the number of incidents involving certain animals e.g. corn snakes and bearded dragons. Reptiles come to us as a result of cruelty cases but also are handed over and abandoned.

· RSPCA is involved in trying to minimise welfare problems experienced by reptiles and rescuing suffering animals. We currently have one dedicated rescue facility at Brighton RSPCA branch centre.

· Between 2006 and 2010, the RSPCA took in/took to a vet over 7000 reptiles. We have produced basic care sheets for commonly kept reptiles and create educational resources on responsible pet ownership. We also provide advice for Local Authorities on emerging issues and applications for pet shop or Dangerous Wild Animal Act licences. 

· In the future, in terms of trade, the RSPCA would like to increase public awareness of the scale and implications of international and national trade in wild-caught animals. We want to encourage vendors of animals to sell responsibly by providing quality care information and ensuring that the buyer is fully aware of the commitment they are taking on. We would also like to investigate welfare implications of selective breeding. 

· In terms of keeping, we want to find out how many and what types of animals are being kept, the welfare problems they are experiencing, develop more specialist RSPCA facilities and help owners to meet the needs of their animals.
· 

*Questions and Answers:*

*Q. Are pet fairs/trade fairs still allowed?*
A. There is a lot of opposition to this, but generally it is up to the local authority to decide.
It is an offence under the Pet Animals Act to commercially sell animals in a market. A recent report [_Amphibian and Reptile Pet Markets in the EU: an Investigation and Assessment_ (2012) Arena, Steedman and Warwick] investigated the animal welfare, public health and invasiveness risk of three well-known pet fairs. 

*Q. How optimistic can we be of an EU-wide ban on the trade in reptiles? *
A. A ban based purely on welfare is very unlikely, however this may be possible from the point of view of invasive species or disease transmission risk.

*Q. If someone applies for a licence and gets turned down, are any checks done to ensure they are not still keeping the animal. *
A. No – unfortunately local authorities just don’t have the resources to be able to do this. It would be ideal if was local governments could set up advisory panels in the future to help local authorities. If vets etc suspect that a pet is being kept illegally, they should contact the local authority, however it should be noted that at the present time there are a great deal of constraints on local authorities in terms of time and resources.


A further issue is that of local authorities having no power of entry into properties (without the police) and generally reptiles are only seen when they are attending the property for another reason. At present no database exists where vets can see if other people have applied for licenses and if they have been refused. Increased cooperation and collaboration between vets and local authorities would help compensate for this lack.


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## Geomyda (Aug 11, 2008)

*Sophie Adwick...... background?*

Sophie Adwick is a scientific officer in the wildlife department of The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), an animal welfare charity. Sophie has been involved in field conservation and welfare work throughout the world, including in Bermuda, Costa Rica, Sumatra and South Africa.


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## kitschyduck (May 30, 2010)

I suppose the RSPCA presence at the Norfolk Showground EHS show had something to do with the APA? I didn't notice the RSPCA at last year's show, but maybe it's normal for them to check on things, I'm not sure. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Ultimately I'm all for the RSPCA making sure all the animals are being transported and sold responsibly, but if this is the beginning of a ban on exotic pets, then it's making me feel a little uneasy...


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## bbav (Oct 17, 2007)

The RSPCA know nothing about reptiles or any other exotic..so now they are using the "if we can't look after them then nobody else knows how to" mentality!
It's only a matter of time until the RSPCA starts pushing for a ban on reptile keeping as a lot of their higher ups seem to have too many links to the animal rights nutters not to


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## kitschyduck (May 30, 2010)

I don't know, it seems possible (as certain dog breeds have also been banned and taken away from families), but unrealistic. I'm a big supporter of the RSPCA, so I'd like to think this is mostly down to misunderstanding and the APA just LIKE to think the RSPCA supports them more than they actually do in reality.


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## mstypical (Feb 16, 2011)

So in 4 years they 'rescued' 7,000 reptiles.... i'd like to know how many dogs and cats were 'rescued' in the same time period please? If that figure is even accurate that is!


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## catch and release (Jun 1, 2011)

Have no time for the RSPCA whatsoever. I remember years ago they tried without success to prosecute a guy who left his tropical fish tank for two weeks whilst he went on holiday. They case cost hundreds of pounds and was bought about by a neighbour of the guy hell bent on causing trouble, The RSPCA always seem to go after the easy target and concentrate their efforts in the wrong areas.


catch and release


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## ilovecornsnakes (Apr 4, 2008)

From what i understand, the RSPCAs worries could all be over dogs just as easily as reptiles.



> A huge variety of reptiles (and other wild animals) are kept as pets. Any wild animal can feasibly become part of the pet trade if there’s sufficient demand. Within the trade there are trends in popularity, for instance due to films (e.g. terrapins after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies) or novel colour patterns.


Legally blonde.



> · Reptiles kept as pets are either bred in captivity or taken from the wild. The RSPCA has serious concerns for the welfare of animals that are wild-caught because of the ways in which they are captured and transported. For this reason we are opposed to trade in wild-caught animals and also to trade in captive bred animals where suffering takes place at any point in the chain.


Puppy farms.



> o It can be difficult to find specialist vets and these can be expensive
> o Misconception that reptiles are ‘easy to keep’ – this can lead to welfare issues if this assumption is made due to a lack of knowledge
> o Can grow very large, become aggressive and live a long time


same for dogs, the only one not too similar is the vets and thats only because dogs have been around longer so studied more.

Isn't it just a case of lack of research from a small number of keepers then tarring us all with the same brush? same as they do for 'dangerous dog' breeds?

i just picked 'dogs' not because i have anything against them or their owners, but because i could see such similarity. i wonder what would happen in a clean debate between the two sides of this where each was required to provide non-statistical evidence of their point, or, if calling on proportions show the true data and don't go just by the samples that are gathered in one condition.


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## Elmodfz (Jan 18, 2008)

This is an interesting read, especially as I spotted the whole "ban exotic pets from being imported" thing in their 5 pledges when I read it ages ago.

I definitely think this is an area that needs looking into more, and perhaps pointing out to the RSPCA why they are wrong to ban reptiles from being imported. What I don't understand is if the RSPCA are planning on backing reptile shows more and being on our side, why do they want to ban these animals from coming into the country, thus upsetting everyone again and loosing what little support they may have gained?

Think this will be the topic for my dissertation for my final uni year, as much as I want to do a massive expose on the APA and their lying ways!


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## kitschyduck (May 30, 2010)

I think the RSPCA must have it in their heads that we have enough reptiles in the country for the rest of time as it is.


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