LONDON (AFP) - – A British grandmother was heavily fined and
electronically tagged for selling a goldfish to a child, triggering
criticism Wednesday of over-zealous use of animal protection
laws.
Pet shop owner Joan Higgins, 66, was fined 1,000 pounds (1,500
dollars, 1,120 euros) also given a dusk-to-dawn curfew for selling
an animal to a person under the age of 16, but her 47-year-old son
Mark -- also ordered to do community service -- slammed the ruling
as a farce.
The pair were prosecuted after the local council sent a
14-year-old boy to buy a goldfish in a "sting" operation following
reports that their shop, Majors Pets, had sold a gerbil to a
teenager with learning difficulties.
The shopkeepers sold the fish without asking his age or how the
fish would be cared for, prosecutors said.
"I think it's a farce and legal lunacy and I told the council
that," said Mark Higgins, cited by the Daily Telegraph, noting that
his mother was also given an electronic tag.
"What gets me so cross is that they put my Mum on a tag -- she's
nearly 70, for goodness sake... You would think they have better
things to do with their time and money," he said.
But Trafford Council in northern England defended the decision
to prosecute, noting that the gerbil sold to the teenager with
learning difficulties -- who was also 14 -- was put in a cup of
coffee.
"The evidence presented for this conviction clearly demonstrates
that it is irresponsible to sell animals to those who are not old
enough to look after them," said Iain Veitch, the council's head of
public protection.
Higgins and her son pleaded guilty at Trafford Magistrates'
Court to selling an animal to a person aged under 16. She was
ordered to obey a curfew from 6:00 pm to 7:00 am for seven weeks
because she is unfit for community service.
Her son, who manages the shop, was fined 750 pounds (1,100
dollars) and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid community
work at the end of eight months of legal action Tuesday.
The story was highlighted by a number of British newspapers
Wednesday. The Daily Express said it made a "farce" of Britain's
legal system, adding in a front-page headline: "Proof Britain
really has gone mad."
