HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER (UK) 05 September 05 Deadly threat of snake sales (Richard Porritt)

Killer snakes are being bought and sold illegally in Kirklees.

An undercover investigation has revealed the trade.

One of Africa's second deadliest snakes, a puff adder, was bought by an undercover reporter at Hartshead Moor Service Station on the M62.

Experts say the trade means it is only a matter of time before someone is killed by a snake in Britain.

The seller called himself John and sold the snake for £150.

He handed over the snake - whose venom can kill in hours - in a sports bag and boasted that he could get hold of other venomous reptiles.

He added that nobody he knew bothered with a Dangerous Wild Animal Licence.

York-based vet Emma Milne, working with former RSPCA special investigations officer Terry Spammer, uncovered the black market trade for television show Inside Out, to be aired on BBC 1 at 7.30pm tonight.

The show also exposes a loophole in the current law which allows people to go across to the Continent and buy a venomous snake like a cobra and legally bring it into the UK.

Mrs Milne said: "There seems to be a growing number of people who want to keep venomous snakes. Many are very responsible; they keep and license these animals in accordance with the law.

"But there is plenty of evidence to suggest there are lots of people who are not bothering with licences.

"This is what is fuelling the black market in illegally-held snakes."

Terry Spammer went undercover for the programme and was put in touch with a group of people who kept venomous snakes illegally.

His inquiries led to the meeting on the busy M62 service station, just a few miles from Huddersfield.

He said: "These people do not have licences for these snakes and they don't care who they sell them to.

"These snakes are absolutely deadly. If you were bitten you could die. If someone living next to me had one of these I would want to know about it.

"This is a growing and widespread problem.

"It is only a matter of time before someone is bitten and killed by a venomous snake in the UK.

"These snakes that people are buying are like loaded guns. It is crazy that you can buy the snake without having to first prove you have a licence."

Mr Spammer has now called for a Government clampdown on people who keep dangerous animals without licences.

http://ichuddersfield.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=15933903&method=full&siteid=50060&headline=deadly-threat-of-snake-sales-name_page.html

[ Show Entire Thread ]