A 34 year old man has been sentenced to 120 days in jail for inadequate care and supervision of 210 reptiles, most of them pythons, which police found in his father’s house.
Oslo police raided the property in September, 2013, after Australian police, in the spring of that year, had informed them that a person in Norway had sent a package to an address in Australia.
The package contained one large snake, 19 younger snakes of the species ‘carpet python’ (morelia spilota), as well as some cockroaches and cash.
In addition to a violation of the Animal Welfare Act, to which the man admitted partial guilt, he was also convicted in Oslo District Court (on Tuesday) of having given them live feed, for
the export of 20 snakes, as well as storage of drugs for doping.
Mice, rats and piglets
When police raided the detached home of the 34-year-old’s father, the police seized all 210 reptiles, most of them varieties of pythons of different sizes.
There were also some snakes of the species boa constrictor, and geckos and lizards. Senior Inspectors from the Food Safety Authority also participated in the search, with the assistance of a veterinary surgeon from Kristiansand Zoo.
It was determined that collection of the reptiles involved violations of the Animal
Welfare Act, and apart from some creatures that were redeployed to zoos, most were killed.
The police also searched the residence of the 34-year-old’s mother. In two freezers, they found many bags, containing several thousand frozen mice and rats, and 119 frozen, newborn piglets.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
