No permit means no turtles for a Halifax-area hardware store.
Customers at a Kent store in Dartmouth told CTV News the Department of Natural Resources seized three turtles from the location Wednesday afternoon.
The department is not commenting on the matter, but their website says wildlife require a permit.
The seizure comes after a large African Rock Python strangled two young boys while they slept in an apartment in Campbellton, N.B.
The snake was kept in an enclosure in the apartment, located above an exotic pet store, but it managed to escape through a ventilation duct and fell through the ceiling into the living room of the apartment, where the boys were sleeping on a mattress.
Police say preliminary results of the autopsies on the boys show they died of asphyxiation.
The tragic incident has raised questions about the enforcement of exotic pet laws and regulations, although it isn’t clear what prompted Wednesday’s seizure.
Owners of exotic pet stores in Nova Scotia say there is a list of regulations indicating which animals are allowed to be sold in each province. They say business owners who don’t follow the rules can expect to be shut down or receive a steep fine.
Several municipalities also have similar guidelines.
“The bylaw that respects the ownership of these prohibited animals does list seven specific venomous snakes, but all venomous snakes are actually prohibited by ownership in HRM,” says Tiffany Chase, a spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Chase says if someone reports an illegal exotic pet, bylaw officers will investigate, seize the animal, and the owner would be fined $347.
“At this point, we’ve never had to seize such an animal, although we know that they exist by special permit in some local museums and zoos,” says Chase.
In Campbellton, the apartment has been cordoned off with yellow police tape and two provincial conservation officers were seen entering and leaving Reptile Ocean, the exotic pet store located downstairs from the apartment.
Bry Loyst, founder and curator of the Indian River Reptile Zoo in Ontario, said Wednesday he and a crew were driving a truck to Campbellton after the New Brunswick government asked for his help to remove animals from the pet shop and take them to accredited zoos elsewhere in the country.
"Definitely the dangerous animals are all leaving the province," Loyst said.
New Brunswick's Natural Resources Department later said it obtained a search warrant to search Reptile Ocean and if any illegal exotic animals are found, they would be seized and relocated to accredited zoos.
Department spokeswoman Anne Bull said it was not aware that the African rock python was being kept in the apartment before the deaths of the boys, adding that it is illegal to keep that snake species without a special permit that is reserved for accredited zoos and not private pet owners.
"In fact, we had no knowledge of the existence of this African rock python prior to this week's tragedy," Bull said in an email.
A funeral service for the boys is scheduled Saturday at 4 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Suzette Belliveau and The Canadian Press
