The Scottish SPCA will not face any criminal proceedings after killing a harmless snake mistaken for a deadly serpent.
The reptile was frozen to death after employees wrongly identified it as a deadly green mamba.
The fast-moving Sub-Saharan African animal can kill prey such as birds and small mammals with its venom in 30 minutes.
The creature was discovered last month on the UAL Bodewes cargo ship that had docked in Aberdeen after travelling from West Africa.
The Scottish SPCA was called out to rescue the reptile which was then taken to their Drumoak rehoming centre in Aberdeenshire under police escort.
However, staff could not find any snake specialist willing to adopt the animal so it had to be put to sleep.
It then emerged that the slithering serpent had neither venom or fangs and was in fact a harmless tree dweller.
The Scottish SPCA was then accused of putting the animal to its death inhumanely by placing it inside a freezer – against the charity’s own guidelines on good practice.
The complaint to police about the killing of a snake was made by John Robins, of pressure group Animal Concern, who called the practice of freezing cold-blooded animals “exceptionally cruel”.
But in a letter, the officer in charge of the investigation tells Mr Robins there will be no criminal proceedings. as the action taken by the SSPCA was done with public safety in mind.
It states: “Police stand by the fact that there was no intent to harm/destroy the snake for no other reason than public safety.
“The chief inspector from Scottish SPCA took the decision using the information she had at the time which pointed to the fact this was a deadly green mamba.
“With this in mind the decision has been made that there will be no criminal proceedings in relation to this incident.”
At the time, Scottish SPCA Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn said that the decision to put the snake to sleep was under the “genuine belief” that it was a threat to staff.
