Reptile ‘rescuer’ in strife

A REPTILE fanatic found with a car boot full of snakes, frogs and lizards has escaped jail time after his lawyer told the court he took them from the wild because he just “loved animals so much”.

Laughlan Robert Gotje, 27, of Stradbroke Island, yesterday pleaded guilty to several counts of keeping or using taken protected animals.

Police found “a large number of reptiles” in containers in the boot of his car in July at Mt Isa.

But his reasons for keeping them were deemed “extraordinary” by Magistrate Mark Howden.

Southport Magistrates Court heard Gotje picked up 32 potentially endangered frogs, pythons and spiny monitors off the side of the road to “stop them becoming victims of road trauma”. One frog was found dead in the car. Gotje had a licence to keep reptiles, but got into trouble because he took the critters from a national park area, the court heard.

His lawyer, Michael McMillan, told the court his client had not planned to sell or “cook” the reptiles.

“There is no allegations of a commercial purpose,” he said.

“He has been a lover of reptiles since he was a boy. He just loves animals so much.”

Magistrate Howden sentenced Gotje to a $3000 good behaviour bond, for 18 months.

He said the offending fell into an “extraordinary category” where he had not tried to harm the animals but rescue them.

“When all is said and done you are probably someone who has contributed greatly to the conservations of Australian wildlife,” he said.