Brexit border row over capybara smuggled from England to Northern Ireland
A capybara is at the centre of a Brexit border row after three people were convicted of charges related to smuggling the South American rodent from England to Northern Ireland.
The animal belonged to Zena Foord, from Belfast, who got in touch with Michael Dickinson, a pet shop owner in County Antrim, after deciding to obtain it as a pet.
Using his contacts, he sourced a capybara in Cambridge, where they can be kept as pets legally, and had James Hammond pick it up then transport it back across the Irish Sea.
The capybara settled into Foord’s home, where her son, Kyle Thomas, took a particular shine to the blunt-snouted sensation.
He named it Queen Elizabeth and filmed videos of the pair for his 35 million TikTok followers.
But when the animal fell ill last year and Foord took it for a check-up, vets alerted the authorities.
Hammond had failed to obtain a vets health certificate and notify the authorities in Northern Ireland of the import. Foord, Dickinson and Hammond were arrested.
The trio pleaded guilty at Lisburn Magistrates Court this week after a judge heard they had fallen foul of red tape that did not exist before the creation of the Irish Sea border after Brexit.
Foord admitted keeping a dangerous wild animal without a licence between Oct 6 and 24 2022 after telling investigators at her Belfast home she owned Queen Elizabeth, but didn’t know she needed permission and documents to bring it into Northern Ireland.
Dickinson admitted transporting the animal without authority and failing to present a health certificate for it.
Hammond, a farmer with an interest in rare breed poultry, admitted illegally importing the animal and failing to notify Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
All three defendants were given two-year conditional discharges, which means they are spared further punishment, but do now have a criminal record.
The capybara died last year.
Dickinson told the Belfast Telegraph that the case was “an absolute farce”.
The businessman said legitimate pet traders were “now being treated the same as rapists and paedophiles” because of the post-Brexit legal changes.
Unlike the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland continues to follow EU rules on animal health to prevent a hard land border with the Republic of Ireland after Brexit.
That controversial Irish Sea border means checks on goods and animals exported from Britain to Northern Ireland under a treaty agreed by London and Brussels to protect the peace process.
Ironically the animal, which resembles a large guinea pig, was first exported from EU member Germany, to Cambridge, before it was bought and crossed the Irish Sea back into EU customs territory.
Criticism over ‘harsh’ decision
Barry Gibson, defending Hammond, said that before Brexit and the change in the rules, the defendants would not have been guilty of any crime in transporting the animal from one part of the UK to another.
“This is all as a result of Brexit and the regulations changing,” he said.
Dickinson told the Belfast Telegraph after the case: “I didn’t think we were doing anything wrong. I can take birds to England, no problem whatsoever, but I can’t then bring the birds back to Northern Ireland again, which is so stupid.
“The courier company, who have been couriering these animals for years, didn’t think they did anything wrong at all, but we all ended up being made an example of, which I think has been very harsh.”
That Irish Sea border is the reason why the Democratic Unionist Party has boycotted Stormont since February 2022. Unionists believed it was loosening Northern Ireland’s ties to the rest of the UK.
However, Rishi Sunak is determined that the new trading arrangements are here to stay after agreeing the Windsor Framework deal with the EU to replace the Northern Ireland Protocol in February this year.
Under that new Brexit deal, UK pets travelling between Northern Ireland and Britain from the autumn will no longer need onerous paperwork and expensive vaccinations, which were needed under the Protocol.
Instead, they just need to be microchipped and the owner must state they have no plans to enter the Republic of Ireland or the EU from Northern Ireland.
But those relaxed rules will not apply to all animals, including capybaras.
