Exotic pets owners would need permits under tougher new law

The New Brunswick government will make it more difficult for people to own exotic pets like the African rock python that killed two young boys in Campbellton in 2013.

Resource Development Minister Rick Doucet says he will soon introduce an Exotic Animals Act that will require anyone owning exotic animals to get a permit.

In many cases, the conditions will be so strict that only accredited zoos and similar institutions will be able to obtain permits.

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Enforcement will be centralized under conservation officers with the Department of Justice and Public Safety, putting an end to what Doucet called "a patchwork of enforcement with various departments responsible for various aspects."

"The people who acquire exotic animals do so with the full intention of keeping them as pets," Doucet said.

"But we know that exotic pets have needs that few people realize at the front end. Sadly they are exotic animals that can intentionally or unintentionally cause physical injury or even death to animals and humans."

Deaths spurred change

The province appointed a task force after the 2013 deaths of six-year-old Connor Barthe and his four-year-old brother, Noah Barthe, in Campbellton.

The two boys were sleeping in the living room of Jean-Claude Savoie, in an apartment above the pet store where he kept the python in an enclosure. It escaped, moved through an air vent and asphyxiated the two boys.

We were all aware and we were all guilty of knowing that place was there.- Stephanie Anglehart-Paulin, Campbellton mayor

Savoie was acquitted last year on charges of criminal negligence causing death.

Campbellton Mayor Stephanie Anglehart-Paulin applauded the news.

"Maybe another community won't have to suffer the way we suffered," she said.

"We can't go back, we can't press rewind, but we certainly can make it go better to go forward."

She said the community as a whole had some responsibility for the 2013 tragedy.

"We were all aware and we were all guilty of knowing that place was there," she said.

"We were bringing our schoolchildren there. Then all of a sudden we had to be mad at this gentleman for operating this. It's a freak thing that happens and now we have to learn from it, and at least we're going to move forward with strong recommendations."

Law could have protected boys

Bruce Dougan, the manager of the Magnetic Hill Zoo and chair of the task force, said "chances are" the boys would not have died if the new law had existed then.

"There's going to be instances where things slip through the cracks no matter how much legislation, regulation and enforcement you have in place," he said.

"But in this particular case I don't think we would be here today if this legislation had been in place in 2013. Interagency communication would have helped a lot in that situation, and I think inspection on a regular basis would have seen that animal not being in that facility at that point in time."

Rules retroactive?

Doucet suggested the rules will apply retroactively to people who own exotic animals now.

"It's going to take time for the regulations to get into place, so there's going to be a period of time that elapses before people have to make changes," he said.

"It's not going to be immediate, it's not overnight, their animal could be on that list and at that point in time they're going to have to make that decision."

Department spokesperson Shawn Berry wrote in an email to CBC News that, owners would have a year to comply after the regulations are established and the new act is proclaimed.

"In the case of an animal that is currently legal to own that may be removed from the positive list through the review process in the new legislation, the owner could apply for a permit, consideration would then be given to allowing that animalunder specific conditions."

The bill will be introduced in coming days but the regulations will need more time to be drafted.

The law will list species that do not require permits. Owners of all other species will have to get permits. The law will regulate the importing, owning, selling, displaying, breeding and exporting of the animals.

The law and regulations respond to a 2015 task force report that made 29 recommendations. All but two of the recommendations are being fully or partly implemented.

Dougan said of the two recommendations not being implemented, one requires a response from the federal government that hasn't come yet.

The other is about quarantining animals being brought into the province. The government hasn't decided yet on how to do that.