(AP) LANCASTER, OH A Lancaster man spent three days in the Fairfield County Jail last month for failing to put identification tags on his 10-year-old daughter's pet turtles and snakes.
The 51-year-old Terry Wilkins is the first Ohioan to serve jail time for violating a 2000 state wildlife-preservation law that -- among other things -- requires owners of Ohio native reptiles to tag them.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources says a personal-integrated transponder tag slightly larger than a grain of
rice must be inserted under the reptile's skin using a syringe.
The chip contains a bar code readable by a hand-held scanner so that the pet's owner can be identified.
Wilkins, owner of a pet store in Columbus, claims the tagging often kills animals, causes them to develop lesions or become infertile.
Wilkins had allowed his daughter to keep eight turtles and four snakes at their home. When a state Wildlife inspector told Wilkins he would have to tag the pets and he refused, he wound up in court.
Link