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Zoo owner James Hennessy holding a boa constrictor at The National Reptile Zoo in Kilkenny<\/p>\nA gaboon viper and a puff adder, were discovered by a landlord after his tenant left the countryZoo owner James Hennessy holding a boa constrictor at The National Reptile Zoo in Kilkenny<\/p>\n
Two highly venomous snakes, housed in tiny tanks in a terraced house are just two of the dangerous pets veteran reptile rescuer James Hennessy has been called to.<\/p>\n
In Ireland, licences are not needed to keep animals like these so there is no way of know what is being kept, where they are being kept, how well they are secured or being looked after.<\/p>\n
This particular pair, a gaboon viper and a puff adder, were discovered by a landlord after his tenant left the country and his animals.<\/p>\n
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A Burmese python at The National Reptile Zoo in Kilkenny<\/p>\n
The creatures were found in a small bedroom where their owner \u201chad about a foot of space\u201d between his bed and the \u201cway too small\u201d tanks which had not been cleaned in months.<\/p>\n
Mr Hennessy said the animals were living \u201cin about two inches of their own faeces\u201d. He describes gaboon vipers and puff adders as having \u201clife-threatening venom\u201d that could \u201ckill fairly rapidly\u201d.<\/p>\n
The row of houses had adjoining attics, he added, and if they had escaped \u201cit wouldn\u2019t have been just that person\u2019s problem, it would have been everybody\u2019s\u201d.<\/p>\n
Despite dogs needing to be licensed, in Ireland there is very little regulation around the ownership of dangerous animals by private individuals.<\/p>\n
Mr Hennessy said the public would be \u201cmassively\u201d surprised if they knew the variety and number of exotic animals kept in homes around the country.<\/p>\n
In Northern Ireland, there is a list of types of animals, including venomous snakes, must be licensed under the the Dangerous Wild Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 and are subject to annual inspections.<\/p>\n
Records there show there are licences for 39 animals held by five different people. They include two western diamondback rattlesnakes in Co Armagh and three squirrel monkeys in Co Antrim. The rest are registered in County Down, along with three ring-tailed lemurs there are 31 venomous snakes.<\/p>\n
Among the snakes are a king cobra, the world\u2019s longest venomous snake; spectacled cobra, one of the \u201cbig four\u201d species of snakes; and three monocled cobras.<\/p>\n
If most of these were moved to the Republic of Ireland there would be no way of tracing where, or how, they are housed.<\/p>\n
Mr Hennessy\u2019s organisation, the National Reptile Zoo in Kilkenny, is home to several of the animals he has rescued or which have been surrendered by their owners.<\/p>\n
He describes a regular interaction between his staff and zoo visitors: \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018oh look, you\u2019ve got a green mamba, that\u2019s really dangerous, imagine having that in your house\u2019. And the two green mambas we have were ex-pets, they were pets that people owned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other former pets include an 8ft long boa constrictor, which if it started to constrict around a person\u2019s neck, it wouldn\u2019t \u201ctake a lot to close your airway off before you go unconscious,\u201d said Mr Hennessy.<\/p>\n
He has also been called out to properties where crocodiles were being kept. He said most people do want to care for their animals but there is a lack of understanding and awareness of how to look after exotic pets.<\/p>\n
He said often owners end up \u201ckilling them with kindness\u201d leaving the animals in an extremely poor condition. Other animals have been surrendered to his zoo because the owners cannot cope with the demands of an animal that grows large or lives for a long time.<\/p>\n
Currently, in Ireland, licenses are only needed for exotic animals if they are regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).<\/p>\n
Mr Hennessy describes the legislation as being about the \u201crareness of the animal\u201d rather than any potential danger it may pose.<\/p>\n
He describes two scenarios: one involving a Siamese crocodile; the other an American alligator; he said they can both reach the same size and are equally as dangerous but only the Siamese crocodile needs to be microchipped and have certificates to prove it has not been taken from the wild, while \u201cthere\u2019s no regulation\u201d on the alligator.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cif they\u2019re not Cites-listed there is free movement of them within the European Union,\u201d adding if an animal comes into Ireland from Germany or Holland there is \u201cno log of that coming into the country\u201d.<\/p>\n
The attitude in Ireland, he said, is \u201cif something hasn\u2019t happened, up to now, it\u2019s probably not going to happen\u201d. But he adds there have been cases of people being admitted to hospital for venomous bites which have \u201cgone under the radar a little bit\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said his reptile zoo is the only place in Ireland that holds anti-venom, and only for the species they have.<\/p>\n
When asked if there are any plans to introduce a licensing system for dangerous exotic animals, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine pointed to current rules around importation, saying: \u201cSafeguards are in place to control their entry including prior approval, official veterinary certification and inspection at the Border Control Post.\u201d<\/p>\n