56 illegal pythons euthanized after 100 snakes found in Mission home

Animal advocates are urging the government to fund a reptile rescue facility after 56 illegal pythons were seized from a Mission home and destroyed.

Conservation officers made the slithery discovery Thursday. The seized species, some reaching five metres long, were amongst 100 snakes living at the residence.

The 56 reticulated pythons, which are restricted by the B.C. Ministry of Environment over safety concerns, were destroyed and the other legal snakes were left at the home.

Conservation officer Dave Cox said the snakes were euthanized because they pose a risk to public safety and are a dangerous animal.

Dewdney Animal Hospital veterinarian Dr. Adrian Walton, who euthanized the snakes, has a permit to keep the restricted reptiles, but faced a heart-wrenching decision when so many needed a home.

“That was my call. We are the only facility in B.C. that has a rescue licence to keep them and I am currently full. I have space for five snakes and that’s it,” he said.

Mike Hopcraft, who runs The Reptile Guy education centre, said the government imposed the ban without considering where to put the illegal animals.

“The government put new laws in place four years ago to prohibit these animals but did not put a plan in place to house them when they are confiscated so now they are all senselessly being executed,” Hopcraft said.

Hopcraft said the ministry needs to fund a rescue centre for the seized and confiscated illegal reptiles.

Walton said relocating the snakes would have been very difficult because every jurisdiction bans the animals.

As a result, the 56 snakes were euthanized.

“As a veterinarian we do this humanly,” Walton said. “You have to remember I love these animals, this would be very upsetting for me if I didn’t think we could do it humanely.”

This latest seizure comes just days after 40 pythons were seized from a southern Ontario motel room where children were living.

Earlier in August, two young boys were killed by an African rock python in New Brunswick.

Walton said that while it is rare for these animals to kill or injure people, it is inappropriate for them to be kept in homes.

“These large snakes… some are not so nice… they are inappropriate to have in a private residence. They should be kept in a zoological facility,” Walton said.

Hopcraft hopes this kind of facility will be funded in the future.

“Why is it that the snakes don’t count as lives? When will people realize that these are all living creatures?” he said.