Before the 1970s, it was fashionable for some eccentric British people to keep wolfdogs, tigers, monkeys, poisonous spiders, scorpions and other wild animals as pets.
In 1976, the British government passed a simple mandate: if you possess any such animal, you would have to fork up a large amount of money in compulsory insurance, you would have to follow government orders on how that animal was to be restrained and housed. Or you’d be committing a serious criminal act endangering public safety.
It was an obviously reasonable legislation, but some of the people, who happened to possess not a few wild animals, did not simply ship these illegal animals back from where they obtained them, but…well…uh…
this was seen prowling in Surrey woods in 1976.
this was shot dead in 1991, and then was found in a wealthy landowner’s freezer in 2003 after a police raid. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/4830320.stm
This was caught on tape in 2005. An officer witnessed the same before.
And then this was found in running across Scottish hills.
And then a 3.5 feet long animal in a certain valley.