Canada In Legal Fight To Deport Flying Squirrel

[matcom]

<snip>

TORONTO (Reuters) - A flying squirrel named Sabrina is at the center of a fight between Canada, which wants to deport the rodent, and its owner who says the creature is harmless and has bonded to him.

Ottawa wants to send the animal back to the United States, citing a 2003 ban on importing rodents into the country after a monkeypox outbreak south of the border last year.

Naturalist Steve Patterson, who brought the squirrel across the border last June after filling out the necessary papers, said the government is simply being stubborn.

"The good the squirrel can do far outweighs the bad," he said on Wednesday. "If we could apply for refugee status, I would certainly put an application in for her, but I don't think the laws cover small, baby squirrels."

It is illegal to capture flying squirrels in Ontario, prompting Patterson to travel to Indiana to obtain the animal for educational purposes, he said.

Patterson, whose squirrel got a clean bill of health from a veterinarian, won the opening round of the court battle after a judge denied Ottawa's request to make him turn Sabrina over.

But an appeal is pending and Patterson has lined up high-profile lawyer Clayton Ruby to defend the animal.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=573&e=2&u=/nm/20041007/od_nm/life_canada_squirrel_dc

[Richardo]

1. Hokey Smoke!

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