http://www.canada.com/technology/Reptile+finds+southern+home/4520875/story.html
None of the staff at Dewdney Animal Hospital wanted to go into Dr. Adrian Walton’s office at first when a new addition arrived earlier this year.
A spectacled caiman that Walton described in the nicest way possible, as being “feisty,” had come in and needed some veterinary care.
“He is absolutely nasty,” said Walton. “I love reptiles but he is not a pleasant animal.”
The small crocodilian came to the Dewdney Animal Hospital about two months ago, after he was discovered during an inspection of a grow-op fire in Agassiz.
He was brought to the Maple Ridge vet, and was found to have a burn on its back, was underweight, and suffering from metabolic bone disease.
“He is about three,” said Walton, “but he’s the size of an eight-month-old.”
Spectacled caimans are restricted under the Ministry of the Environment’s Controlled Alien Species Legislation (CAS), and they are illegal to own in B.C. unless permits are obtained from the government.
Aside from zoos and aquariums, the Dewdney Animal Hospital is the only facility in B.C. with a permit for alien species, so many of the rescues end up in Walton’s care.
When the caiman arrived, he and his staff warmed the reptile up, and de-wormed him as he was carrying a few parasites.
“That was fun,” laughed Walton.
He has now been on a diet of one large rat a week for the past two months, and has gained about 600 grams.
On Wednesday morning, the little creature will be driven down to Blaine and then sent via Fed-Ex to his new home in Tennessee. He will be able to lounge in a 3,000 gallon aquarium owned by a man who puts together displays for zoos.
Considering he will grow to about six-feet long, he is going to need a nice big tank.
Walton said many people worked very hard to find a home for the caiman, especially staff members from the Ministry of Environment, who got in touch with the Vancouver Zoo and the B.C. Reptile Club, who then contacted the Disney Animal Kingdom, who in turn found this man in Tennessee.
Without this help, the caiman would have been euthanized.
“I’m not keeping him,” said Walton.
“The Controlled Alien Species legislation puts human safety at the top of our list, followed closely by animal welfare,” said David Currie, public affairs officer for Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. “Destroying an animal is a last resort,” he added.
“There’s no way in heck I’m giving this to someone in B.C.,” said Walton. “The people who have the means and the desire to keep one of these either already have one or wouldn’t want one.
“Finding a home is different in each case,” said Currie. “but we have a list of approved and permitted facilities – zoos, educational and research institutions and rescue centres for taking Controlled Alien Species both in and out of B.C.”
“In the case of the Spectacled Caiman,” he added, “there was no approved facility in B.C. willing to take the animal, however there was a facility in Tennessee willing to take the caiman.”
Walton said he wants to raise awareness that these creatures are now not only illegal to own, but that they are difficult pets to keep.
“If you’re going to have these types of animals,” he said, “do your research, they’re not for everybody.”
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