Quote Originally Posted by dr del View Post
Hi,



There is a cultural bias against live feeding over here. But the legal sitch is fairly straight forward;

It is not illegal to feed live mammals to your snakes - it can, in fact, be illegal not to if that is all your snake will eat and you allow it to cause suffering or harm to the reptile. Incidentally it is also illegal not to take your animal to a qualified vet if you know they require treatment.

It is illegal to buy any mammal before it is weaned ( or usually interpreted as six weeks of age in rodents ).

It is illegal to feed live for the purposes of entertainment or doing so in such a way it causes unnecessary stress or harm to either animal.

That's where the RSPCA or SSPCA would get involved.

It is worth noting however that the RSPCA and their inspectors have no more legal rights or powers than anyone else - think of them as being similar to the people volunteering in charity shops. You are absolutely within your rights to deny them access to your property or animals despite what they will try and convince you of.

The SSPCA ( the Scottish equivalent ) however do have more legal powers at their disposal. They also tend to know their bum from their elbow - not something the RSPCA has often demonstrated with reptiles.


dr del
I hope I'm not offending anyone, but I have an...extreme dislike for most SPCA-type organizations. Just my experience, but they act very high and mighty and I've been told a million times that I don't take proper care of my animals. Two instances with them made me feel this way. I have two ducks and as ducklings I would let them run around the yard each day, under supervision. Our local animal welfare group heard about it from a nosy neighbor and informed me that they had legal power to "confiscate" my pets. I was distraught and asked them what would happen to my new ducks. I was told they would be released into a local lake. Ask any informed poultry owner and you will know that these are domesticated, not wild, runner ducks who cannot fly or escape predators. When I told the "animal welfare" group, they were very adamant, telling me that I was a terrible owner. It took me about three seconds of google searching to realize that they had zero right to enter my house or take my pets. I told them this much and they threatened legal action before leaving in a huff. Few months later and they arrived at my door. When I answered thee bell, I was holding my two leopard geckos. The woman from the welfare group took one look at them and freaked. She yelled at me for ten minutes about exotic animal "trafficking." I told her that both of my animals were CB, extremely healthy, and in a large, properly made enclosure. Then I shut the door and grabbed my phone. As I pretended to dial 911, she left in her car covered in the organization's logos. I never saw her or anyone else from that organization on my property again, but I took down the car's license plate and I have stayed clear of that "welfare" group. I've gotten similar responses from the PETA about my hunting and fishing. Yet another group of crazies pitching their radical ideas. Sorry for the rant, but it makes me absolutely furious. If they want to stop eating meat and using animal products, that's fine. But once they try to force those ideas onto me, I stop being neutral.