Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Venomous pets owner investigated after licence breach claims

Tom McPherson with a snake
Tom McPherson with a snake

A snake lover with one of the only dangerous wild animal licences in the north-east could have his reptiles taken away.

Tom McPherson, who lives at Portlethen, is being investigated by Aberdeenshire Council amid claims he breached his licence by taking dangerous snakes out of his home without notifying, or receiving permission, from the authorities.

Pictures of Mr McPherson handling snakes and visiting another reptile enthusiast in Alva, Clackmannanshire, have been posted online from the time of the allegations.

The Dangerous Wild Animals Act, which was put in place to deal with an increasing number of people keeping deadly species as pets during the 70s, places restrictions on ownership of venomous snakes, such as black mambas and king cobras.

One reptile keeper from the central belt, who did not wish to be named, said: “They’re very serious snakes, and are under very strict licences.

“It’s worrying. What if he (Mr McPherson) crashes his car on the road, and some poor ambulance driver arrives with the best intentions of treating injuries, and the box of snakes in the car breaks open?

“We could get some poor paramedic stuck in the middle of nowhere, miles and miles away from the closest anti-venom, bitten by one of these snakes.

“There are only a few dangerous wild animals licences across Scotland, and I think other licence-holders would be pretty shocked about this.

“Keeping black mambas and king cobras isn’t a conservation issue, so there’s no real purpose in keeping them. It’s not like you can get them to sit in your lap while you watch the telly.”

Mr McPherson declined to comment when approached by the P&J, while a spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said: “Aberdeenshire Council is investigating and can confirm a licence continues to be held under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act.”