Three illegal exotic animals for sale on the internet seized in Tenerife
Agents of the Operational Unit of Internal Security and Administrative Police (UOSIPA) in Tenerife have confiscated three specimens of exotic animals during the month of March, that were for sale illegally through a well-known website, issuing seizure orders and starting sanctions against those responsible, as reported by the regional government in a press release.
The first police operation took place in San Isidro, in the municipality of Granadilla de Abona in the south of Tenerife, where the agents denounced a 24-year-old man who had a specimen of python molurus, better known as an Indian or Burmese python, which is a species included in Annex I of the Law 50/1999, of December 23, on the Legal Regime of the Possession of Potentially Dangerous Animals, which is why their sale is prohibited.
In Santa Cruz they denounced a 23-year-old man who had a Boa constrictor for sale on the same website, a species also included in Annex I of the Potentially Dangerous Animals Law.
Both of the men voluntarily handed the snakes over to the police as they were facing serious charges for the offence which carries a fine of between 2,400 and 15,000 euros, for violating Article 13 of the aforementioned law that, in its first section, in point C, indicates that the sale or transmission by any title of a "potentially dangerous" animal to those who lack a license will be considered as very serious administrative offenses.
Finally, in San Miguel de Abona, also in the south of the island, agents confiscated a specimen of a white-bellied hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris) that is included in the Spanish Catalog of Invasive Exotic Species. In this case, it was a 31-year-old man who owned it, who claimed that he was unaware of the prohibition of possession and sale of this animal without the proper permits, and in his case the fines can reach up to 200,000 euros.
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Law 42/2007, of December 13, on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity, in Article 80, in point F of the first section, states that it is considered an infringement “in the absence of the corresponding administrative authorization, possession, transportation, trafficking or trade of species included in the Spanish Catalog of Invasive Exotic Species, the importation or introduction for the first time in the national territory, or the first release into the environment, of a species capable of competing with autochthonous species”.
The three confiscated animals have been transferred to the Foundacion Neotropica in Santa Cruz who home exotic pets and look after endangered species.