A Burntwood pet shop owner has been fined for illegally importing hedgehogs.
Jason Edwards, from Newgate Street in Chasetown, was forced to pay £2,450 in fines and costs after Staffordshire County Council animal health officers discovered illegally imported pet hedgehogs at his Chase Pets and Reptiles shop at Sankeys Corner.
Animal health inspectors swooped on the shop in Chase Terrace aftera complaint from a member of the public. They found two African Pygmy hedgehogs that had been imported from Germany.
Edwards had bought them from a pet fair in Germany, then illegally transported them in the boot of a car back to the family-run business.
The 36-year-old, who manages the business, appeared at Stafford Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to five charges of contravening both the Rabies Order 1974 and the Animal Health Act 1981 by bringing two African Pygmy hedgehogs into the country from Germany between December 12, 2009, and March 12, 2010, without authorisation and without complying with the anti-rabies rules.
Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture Ben Adams said:
“The UK is free of rabies and has been for some considerable time. We have strict controls for animals brought into the UK which are designed to prevent this dangerous disease entering this country.
“Anyone who flouts these controls places the public, pet animals and wildlife at risk. The county council will do all it can to protect people and animals from any risk of the spread of animal diseases such as rabies.”
Magistrates ordered Edwards to pay £450 in fines and a further £2,000 in court costs.
Strange ,but genuine British hedgehogs have a more flat appearance