WI Press: Monona Pet Store Owners Will Stand Trial

As posted on the Law forum on Kingsnake.com

Posted by Wes von Papineu on December 10, 2001 at 14:17:56:

WISC 3000 (Madison, Wisconsin) 06 December 01 Monona Pet Store Owners Will Stand Trial
The former owners of a Monona pet shop will stand trial on charges of abusing and killing animals at the store.
A judge ordered Wednesday that Chris Pearson and James Sertzel be bound over for trial, News 3 reported.
A former employee testified that that Sertzel told him to suffocate rabbits in a styrofoam box so they could be sold as food for large snakes.
Both Pearson and Sertzel deny the charges, which carry a maximum of five years in prison for each count.

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2x Press: Tortoise law

Posted by Wes von Papineu on December 11, 2001 at 08:57:28:

As posted on the law forum on Kingsnake.com

Photo: Angulate tortoise (Photo courtesy Care Centre)

ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SERVICE (USA) 11 December 01 Slovak Tortoise Poachers Convicted in South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa: Two Slovak nationals caught in South Africa with 113 angulate tortoises in their possession have been convicted under the Nature Conservation Ordinance due to the work of Cape Nature Conservation's new green crime unit.
Martin Kyskyn and Martin Juricek were apprehended between Graafwater and Lamberts Bay on November 14 when they were observed collecting a tortoise on the roadside. Police then discovered two suitcases filled with 113 of the rare tortoises.
Angulate tortoises, distinguished by the reddish color of the underside of their shells, are protected under the Nature Conservation Ordinance, according to the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board. Accordingly, no tortoise, or tortoise eggs, or tortoise part such as a shell, may be collected from the wild, possessed, imported or exported without a permit.
This smallish tortoise prefers sandy coastal regions and is usually confined to the Cape and southern Namibia.
These tortoises are listed in Appendix II in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which means that the trade in angulate tortoises and their parts is strictly regulated by means of permits.
The two men were found guilty yesterday in the Clanwilliam Regional Court and will be sentenced on Tuesday. They could receive an unprecedented fine in excess of one million rand (US$ 91,200).
The Slovaks were each found guilty on three charges under the Nature Conservation Ordinance. The charges were collection, possession and transportation of tortoises without the necessary permits.
Kyskyn was also charged with bribery. The court found that they planned to export the tortoises. This means that the foreign value can be used to calculate the fine as the penalty under this law is to be three times the commercial value of the endangered animal or part.
The court stipulated a value according to testimony given by John Spence, director of Tygerberg Zoopark.
The Western Cape Nature Conservation Board called judgement "a coup for conservation" and said it "heralds a clampdown on this quiet killer of biodiversity."
Kyskyn and Juricek are remanded in custody at the Clanwilliam police cells where they will remain until they are sentenced. The tortoises are presently at Tygerberg Zoo where they are recuperating.
Cape Nature Conservation has recently formed an environmental crime unit, in partnership with other organizations - a group of officials whose sole responsibility is to prevent, investigate and monitor green crime.
Fanie Bekker, Cape Nature Conservation's director of operational services, said, "The huge success that we have recently enjoyed is substantial proof of the necessity of a strategic rather than an adhoc approach to environmental crime. We will no longer tolerate the illegal exploitation of our heritage and the recent firm stance taken by the courts accentuates the fact that South Africa's image as a soft target for environmental crime is rapidly changing."
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/dec2001/2001L-12-10-03.html

BBC (London, UK) 11 December 01 Tourists helping illegal tortoise trade
British holidaymakers are helping to support a cruel and illegal trade in rare tortoises, according to a report published on Tuesday.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) says the market for live tortoises taken from the wild is causing widespread suffering and is threatening some species with extinction.
Undercover RSPCA inspectors posing as tourists in a Moroccan market recently found more than 500 spur-thighed tortoises on open sale in just two hours.
It is an endangered species that cannot be imported legally into the EU, but the traders assured the inspectors there would be no problem taking them into the UK.
In Britain, recent discoveries by the RSPCA include two tiny tortoises in Birmingham, bought for 10 each on a Tunisian beach and smuggled into the country in a child's pocket.
Unsuitable pets
Another batch of the same endangered species was found in Yorkshire, having been driven in a camper van all the way from Morocco via the Channel Tunnel.
The report says many holidaymakers do not realise that tortoises have to be kept in special conditions to avoid suffering or death.
They do not make suitable pets, with nine out of ten tortoises dying within four years of being captured, the report adds.
It also says that by buying the animals, holidaymakers are encouraging a growing trade that threatens the survival of the species in the wild.
Passengers caught in possession of prohibited tortoises could face fines or imprisonment if caught by customs officers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1703000/1703184.stm

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