Exotic Pets Often Abandoned, Can Be Hazardous

There's been a great deal of negative buzz about so-called exotic pets after two boys were strangled by a python last week in Campbellton. Part of that discussion: whether a better screening process needs to exist for anyone who wants to keep potentially dangerous wild animals. 

Linda Collrin of the Cherry Brook Zoo tells CHSJ News there needs to be some sort of oversight even if owners aren't running an official zoo. At the Cherry Brook Zoo, she says the accreditation body requires binders full of information including staff resumes, bills of health, and a record of whenever animals are moved, even within the province.


Collrin says big snakes are a fad pet much like ferrets and potbellied pigs,and people often give them away when they get too big, making them a hazard wherever they end up. 

Environment Canada has confirmed the python than killed the two boys ended up at Reptile Ocean because it was surrendered anonymously to the SPCA.