'De-venomised' snakes ruled dangerous

[moosenoose]

I'm glad the DSE and the Courts have finally had the audacity to put an end to this practice.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/devenomised-snakes-ruled-dangerous-20081015-5128.html

The practice has since been banned unless it is carried out by a registered practitioner, which Mr Hoser is not.

Mr Hoser said he and his staff had received hundreds of forced bites from once-deadly `devenomised' snakes and survived without anti-venom.

"They are so deadly if there had been a microscopic trace of venom I would have been wiped out," he said.

But Ms Coghlan found Mr Hoser had no qualifications, no training and "produced no scientific evidence" to back up his claims.

She described his demonstrations as a "side-show" with a focus on entertainment above education and refused his requests to bring snakes to the tribunal hearing.

Mr Hoser, a former taxi-driver, runs a snake-catching service as well as putting on wildlife shows.

He has written anti-corruption books, was a candidate in the 1999 Frankston by-election and was fined $3000 for contempt of court in 2001 over allegations he made against two County Court judges.

Crikey founder and shareholder activist Stephen Mayne was sued for defamation by shock-jock Steve Price after reproducing an article by Mr Hoser in 2002. Mr Hoser said he would continue to push for changes to his wildlife demonstrator licence that would benefit public safety.

 

[redbellybite]

about time ....he did to snakes what HITLER did to humans all for the name of SCIENCE......more like all for his own sick twisted perversions.........

 

[waruikazi]

That guy's a loose cannon.

 

[Kyro]

Thats great news, thanks for the link moosenoose

 

[Kyro]

So what if anything will happen to all the venemoids he already has?

 

[Slytherin]

Glad this was stopped!

To me its pointless doing it, how's someone gonna tell the difference? They might think its a safe one when its not. Could be asking for trouble.

 

[Sdaji]

So what if anything will happen to all the venemoids he already has?

Nothing. He'll still be able to make them, he'll still be able to use them in shows, he just won't legally be able to do anything with them which he couldn't do with a normal snake. If he can't let the public within three metres of them it'll be interesting to see if he keeps using them or if he uses entire snakes. If the public aren't allowed near them you'd think there would be no need for him to use venomoids.

 

[cris]

To be honest i think that pretty stupid, i could understand if they got him for cruelty or perfoming surgery without being a vet, but how the hell are these snakes dangerous? they have no venom.

Has a completely removed venom gland or eye(as stated in the article) for that matter ever regenerated from nothing? sounds like rubbish to me?

 

[caustichumor]

The animals are classed for what they are, they are scheduled animals, why should the law be adapted to suit someone? Regardless of if these animals could pose a threat to audience members they should be treated as what they are, you will not find too many harmless taipans or brown snakes in the wild, teaching complacentcy with these animals is foolish.

 

[Jonno from ERD]

Cris,

Peter Mirtschin is my old boss - I saw the photo's and have heard the story from both him and Tim Nias. Both incredibly reliable witnesses.

The eye is apparently the second most complex body part, second only to the brain. If a snake can regenerate an eye, it is plausible that it could regenerate a venom gland.

 

[waruikazi]

To be honest i think that pretty stupid, i could understand if they got him for cruelty or perfoming surgery without being a vet, but how the hell are these snakes dangerous? they have no venom.

Has a completely removed venom gland or eye(as stated in the article) for that matter ever regenerated from nothing? sounds like rubbish to me?

They didn't get him for anything, he was trying to get the law changed to suit his shows.

 

[cris]

Cris,

Peter Mirtschin is my old boss - I saw the photo's and have heard the story from both him and Tim Nias. Both incredibly reliable witnesses.

The eye is apparently the second most complex body part, second only to the brain. If a snake can regenerate an eye, it is plausible that it could regenerate a venom gland.

Is there a paper or anything i can read about this? Sounds like a ground breaking discovery. Are there any other cases of snakes regenerating organs that are completely missing?

 

[Mangles]

Here is the link to the hearing transcripts.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VCAT/2008/2035.html

 

[Hetty]

Good job Mangles

"I interpolate here that amendments in 2007 to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 make it an offence to remove the venom sacs of a reptile unless the procedure is done by a registered practitioner for the purpose of having a therapeutic effect on the animal. It is now a prohibited procedure and an offence to show or exhibit an animal which has been subject to such a procedure performed after the commencement of the amendments. "

He'll probably still do it, but at least the law is making sense now. Those procedures were blatant animal cruelty.

Edited to add: this is good too-
"Mr Hoser’s licence still allows him to demonstrate his snakes and he has approval to conduct snake handling courses. His licence allows him to handle his venomoids provided he does so one at a time. He is still able to demonstrate his venomous snakes provided his audience is no closer than 3 metres, unless he uses a pit. His licence allows him to pass around and let people handle his non-venomous species, and to demonstrate more than one non-venomous snake at any time. He is still able to conduct snake handling courses, but is prohibited from using his venomoids for those courses under any circumstances. "

 

[hodges]

I believe he doesn't just use venomoids for show's ETC, but he also explained that holding the snake by the tail “guarantees pain, suffering, broken bones” hence him using venomoids. I have not heard anything about this fact, anyone else enlighten me whether this is true or false ?.

 

[waruikazi]

I believe he doesn't just use venomoids for show's ETC, but he also explained that holding the snake by the tail “guarantees pain, suffering, broken bones” hence him using venomoids. I have not heard anything about this fact, anyone else enlighten me whether this is true or false ?.

Probably not as painful as being cut open without pain releif

 

[Hetty]

Probably not as painful as being cut open without pain releif

Maybe Hoser would think it was okay to handle snakes by the tail if they were refrigerated first.

 

[falconboy]

He won't be happy. I hope he's taken his pills.

Half this guys problem is he represents himself in court a lot of the time and the judges think he's a bozo.

 

[hodges]

Probably not as painful as being cut open without pain releif

I am not disagreeing that the fact that these snakes would endured some sort of pain (obviously we cannot find out the extent of the pain) and the fact that these snakes are well "useless" in teaching the public tho they are good for close examination of a particular species if you wish. But how can they be used to teach the people who know nothing about Venomous snakes when they really aren't a threat ?.

Thanks for the read moose.

 

[waruikazi]

I have no doubt tailing a snake round the tip of their tail causes them discomfort, when i have to tail a snake i'll usually hold it around the cloacca. They tend to calm down more when they aren't hurting.