Kyneton man fined $10,000 for hoarding over 700 dead and live animals

A 74-year-old Kyneton man has been fined $10,000 for keeping more than 700 dead and live animals, including emus, echidnas, and snakes, at his home and antiques business.

Glenn Richard Rollo pleaded guilty to 13 wildlife and animal welfare charges in the Kyneton Magistrates' Court after a Conservation Regulator investigation found taxidermied and frozen animals across two properties last year.

The investigation, which was part of a major probe into the illegal wildlife trade, uncovered 78 emus, 42 brushtail possums, and 26 echidnas, as well as remains of threatened species, including the barking owl, diamond python, and Murray River short-necked turtle.

Authorities also found 15 live reptiles, including native snakes and turtles, as well as prohibited pest animals such as North American red-eared slider turtles and corn snakes.

Rollo pleaded guilty to charges including selling and possessing protected and threatened wildlife, failing to provide treatment to a sick animal, and failing to keep wildlife in a suitable enclosure.

Magistrate Patrick Southey said he would have imposed a $15,000 fine if Rollo had not pleaded guilty.

Penalty 'doesn't send a message'

Conservation Regulator director of regulatory operations Cal Heppell said anyone who kept, traded, or possessed wildlife had to comply with the law.

"The scale of offending in this case highlights why Victoria has strong protections in place for wildlife and animal welfare," he said. "These requirements are not optional."

Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcel, who lives near the antiques store in Kyneton, said the case had "horrified" locals.

"Ten-thousand dollars for a crime like this is absolutely appalling," she said. "It doesn't send a message to the rest of our community that disrespect towards our wildlife just absolutely won't be tolerated."

Ms Purcel said it was a clear example of Victoria's wildlife protections laws "failing".

"It's been another term of parliament, we've had two so far where the government has failed on the commitment to modernise the Wildlife Act, which is now over 50 years old," she said.