CHRONICLE-HERALD (Halifax, Nova Scotia) 09 May 08 Pythona non grata - HRM bylaw places restrictions on pet ownership (Devin Stevens)

It’s not called the "cat bylaw" anymore, but Halifax Regional Municipality’s Bylaw A-300 is now in effect, and some new licensing deadlines for dog and other pet owners are coming up fast.

When the bylaw came into effect April 1, it became illegal in HRM to own some types of animals. But people who owned prohibited snakes and lizards before that date are allowed to keep them. Those animals must be microchipped and licensed before June 30.

The microchips are implanted beneath the animal’s skin and are used for tracking ownership. Cost for licensing a prohibited animal is $10 until May 31. The cost jumps to $50 after the deadline.

The licensing fee doesn’t cover the cost of microchipping the animal.

"It’s a veterinary procedure," said Stefanie Turner, regional co-ordinator of HRM animal services. "The vets have the chips, and every veterinarian has a different price."

Petworks Veterinary Hospital in Dartmouth quoted the price of a microchip implantation for any animal at $52.50, before taxes.

The bylaw, officially titled Respecting Animals and Responsible Pet Ownership, also requires dogs to be licensed every year. The cost for any dog will be $10 until the end of May. After that, the cost rises to $15 for a spayed or neutered canine, and $50 for one that isn’t fixed.

Halifax regional council took the cat licensing requirement out of the much debated bylaw back in March. With all mentions of felines removed, the bylaw was passed.

Ms. Turner said catching people who don’t register and microchip prohibited animals is a complaint-driven process. She said there have been no complaints since the bylaw went into effect more than five weeks ago.

The list of prohibited animals includes venomous insects or arachnids, but their size and body structure makes them difficult to microchip.

"I doubt that you can get it into a spider, but you can definitely get it into a snake or a lizard," said Ms. Turner. "When it comes to a venomous spider, that would be something where we would contact the person’s veterinarian and discuss specifically what to do in that situation."

What's Banned:

Animals prohibited under Bylaw A-300:

•All venomous snakes, reptiles, insects and arachnids

•Green anaconda

•Yellow anaconda

•Reticulated python

•African rock python

•Burmese python

•Indian python

•Amethyst python

•any adult snake longer than 3.3 metres (measured from the snout to the tip of the tail).

•any adult lizard longer than 2 metres (measured from the snout to the tip of the tail).
HRM bylaw places restrictions on pet ownership

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