A 74-year-old Kyneton antiques dealer has been fined $10,000 after investigators found more than 700 dead native animals at his home and business during a wildlife-trade investigation last year.
Glenn Richard Rollo pleaded guilty to 13 charges in the Kyneton Magistrates’ Court, including possessing and selling protected or threatened wildlife, failing to treat a sick animal and failing to keep wildlife in suitable enclosures.
Investigators found 14 freezers containing animals, along with taxidermied specimens and other remains across the two properties. The collection included 78 emus, 42 brushtail possums and 26 echidnas. Remains of threatened species included a barking owl, diamond python and Murray River short-necked turtle.
The search also uncovered 15 live reptiles, including native snakes and turtles, as well as North American red-eared slider turtles and corn snakes. Those introduced species are classified as prohibited pest animals in Victoria unless kept with authorisation.
The Conservation Regulator said people who keep, trade or possess wildlife must follow licensing and animal-welfare requirements. Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcel called the penalty inadequate and said the case showed the need to modernise Victoria’s more than 50-year-old Wildlife Act. The government said last year that its response to an independent review would introduce higher maximum penalties and new wildlife offences.