rosequoll
Well-Known Member
This is a mostly hypothetical question, since I can't seem to find any information about it!
In the past I had a wild magpie that was non-releasable (couldn't fly). I was able to get some letters from my vet stating that there was no way she could be released, but that she was healthy otherwise and that I should be able to keep her long term, etc etc. I used these papers so that if I was ever brought up for having a wild native bird as a pet (not on license) I wouldn't lose her. I realise that this may not have been enough legally but at least it was something and made me feel a bit better about it all.
In a situation with a reptile/amphibian, is there any way to get a wild animal added onto a license? I know that you can keep a number of frogs caught on your property or morphed from tadpoles collected on your property, but what if you move house? How do you prove that these are YOUR frogs that you caught (or raised)?
Or, alternate situation. A friend has a wild caught animal, raised entirely in captivity and they need to get rid of it. While a snake would probably do fine released, it's not ideal (disease, etc? Wrong locality if the person has moved from another location/state since capturing the animal) and in the case of frogs or dragons, perhaps a very VERY bad idea to just dump them outside (again, disease is my biggest worry).
I'd hate to think that parks and wildlife would want the animals destroyed, so is there any official process in these cases to apply to have the animal added onto a wildlife license in a legal way? I've been asked this question before by people who inherited illegal snakes/dragons/turtles and they're wanting to just dump them outside somewhere and it just seems like a bad idea overall, or alternately they WANT to keep the animal legally but are scared of getting in trouble if they tell anyone (government) about it.
Hm, no replies. I will call the right people tomorrow (if I can find someone who knows) and ask! I just figured that in case a situation comes up it'd be good to know. Working in a pet shop I get asked this a lot. For the people that obviously have no idea what they're doing, I just tell them to surrender the animal (or if they JUST caught it, to release it or turn it in to a local vet) but for customers who are knowledgeable and the animal has been in their care for a long time I'd love to be able to be a bit more help to them.
In the past I had a wild magpie that was non-releasable (couldn't fly). I was able to get some letters from my vet stating that there was no way she could be released, but that she was healthy otherwise and that I should be able to keep her long term, etc etc. I used these papers so that if I was ever brought up for having a wild native bird as a pet (not on license) I wouldn't lose her. I realise that this may not have been enough legally but at least it was something and made me feel a bit better about it all.
In a situation with a reptile/amphibian, is there any way to get a wild animal added onto a license? I know that you can keep a number of frogs caught on your property or morphed from tadpoles collected on your property, but what if you move house? How do you prove that these are YOUR frogs that you caught (or raised)?
Or, alternate situation. A friend has a wild caught animal, raised entirely in captivity and they need to get rid of it. While a snake would probably do fine released, it's not ideal (disease, etc? Wrong locality if the person has moved from another location/state since capturing the animal) and in the case of frogs or dragons, perhaps a very VERY bad idea to just dump them outside (again, disease is my biggest worry).
I'd hate to think that parks and wildlife would want the animals destroyed, so is there any official process in these cases to apply to have the animal added onto a wildlife license in a legal way? I've been asked this question before by people who inherited illegal snakes/dragons/turtles and they're wanting to just dump them outside somewhere and it just seems like a bad idea overall, or alternately they WANT to keep the animal legally but are scared of getting in trouble if they tell anyone (government) about it.
Hm, no replies. I will call the right people tomorrow (if I can find someone who knows) and ask! I just figured that in case a situation comes up it'd be good to know. Working in a pet shop I get asked this a lot. For the people that obviously have no idea what they're doing, I just tell them to surrender the animal (or if they JUST caught it, to release it or turn it in to a local vet) but for customers who are knowledgeable and the animal has been in their care for a long time I'd love to be able to be a bit more help to them.
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