Smuggled hamster's owner disappears

An arrest warrant was issued today for a woman who smuggled a hamster named Eric into New Zealand in a sock.

The 43-year-old Wellington sickness beneficiary, who has interim name suppression, pleaded guilty last month to possessing unauthorised goods and was due to be sentenced in Wellington District Court today but she failed to turn up.

The charge under the Biosecurity Act 1993 carries a maximum penalty of five years and a fine of up to $100,000.

Eric, a dwarf Campbells Russian hamster, was taken off the woman in May 2004 after Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) staff searched her Newtown, Wellington, home.

He was taken to Wellington Zoo but died in March of a liver tumour, an autopsy revealed.

The woman bought Eric at a pet shop in Durban, South Africa, in September 2003 and smuggled him into New Zealand in a sock in her pocket. She sprayed herself with perfume so Quarantine Service beagles wouldn't detect him.

The rodent was discovered after she showed Eric to a local pet shop, telling staff he was a mouse that had lost his tail.

When told Eric was a hamster, the woman said she got him from England. Hamsters are not present in New Zealand.

When spoken to by Ministry of Agriculture and Foresty staff, she initially said she had a guinea pig named Hamster.

Judge Denys Barry issued a warrant for the woman's arrest when she failed to appear this morning. She was given until 2.15pm on Monday to come forward before the warrant was put into effect.

- NZPA