Irish TikToker whose mother smuggled capybara into Northern Ireland from Cambridgeshire sparks row – with three people convicted of breaching new Brexit rules
- The South American rodent was smuggled into the country illegally
An Irish TikToker whose mother smuggled a capybara into Northern Ireland from Cambridgeshire has sparked a Brexit border row.
Three people have been convicted of charges relating to smuggling the animal from England to Northern Ireland.
Zena Foord, the mother of TikToker Kyle Thomas, contacted County Antrim pet shop owner Michael Dickinson.
Dickinson then arranged for James Hammond to pick up the animal and transport it over from Cambridgeshire – where they can be kept as pets legally.
The capybara made itself at home in Foord’s household – where it soon became an online star in Mr Thomas’s videos.
An Irish TikToker whose mother smuggled a capybara into Northern Ireland from Cambridgeshire has sparked a Brexit border row
The capybara made itself at home in Foord’s household – where it soon became an online star in Mr Thomas’s videos
Mr Thomas would film clips of himself and the capybara, which he named Queen Elizabeth, according to The Telegraph.
The videos wracked up a whopping 35million followers on TikTok.
Things took a turn when the animal became unwell last year and needed to be taken to the vets.
The practice alerted the authorities to the fact Foord did not have a vets health certificate and had not declared the imported animal.
The animal died last year.
Foord, Dickinson and Hammond were arrested and all pleaded guilty at Lisburn Magistrate’s Court this week. They were given two-year conditional discharged, so will not face further punishment. It does however mean they now have a criminal record.
Things took a turn when the animal became unwell last year and needed to be taken to the vets
The capybara sparked a Brexit border row as Dickinson claimed pet traders were being treated ‘the same as rapists and paedophiles’.
In order to prevent a hard border with the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland continues to follow EU rules on animal health. This results on checks on goods and animals exported from Britain to Northern Ireland.
Barry Gibson, who defended Hammond in court, said that before Brexit the trio would not have committed a crime and blamed their convictions on the changing regulations.
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