There is a PUBLIC HEARING on February 22, 2005 at 6:30pm at the

commission chamber, 315 Court Street, Clearwater, Fl. (that's

Clearwater Courthouse downtown).....At this hearing they are going

to try to get the State Constitution changed and amend the present

Zoning Code so that Animal Services can regulate any exotic animal

including those permitted by FWCC. They are going to put in the

words "appropriate neighborhood" for where you can have your animals

( you can't live near a school, day care center, ALF, etc.) They

are also going to try to have exotic cats declared "vicious animals"

so they can be confiscated by Animal Services and destroyed.



The County Attorney still believes, even though they lost in Court,

that the County can regulate FWCC permitted animals. They tried to

say that the County Administrator had the power to conclude that

tigers, etc., were the same as cattle, horses, and other farm animals

and they could regulate how many and which cats could be kept on an

agriculturally zoned property............ they lost because the Judge

told them the State Constitution specifically gave the power to FWCC,

not the Cities or Counties. ........But here they go again.



There are already new regulations by FWCC as to acreage for new

owners. This puts the number of properties in Pinellas County where

new exotics, cats/primates/elephants, etc can live at very few. In

theory, if the commissioners pass these new laws, a person buying a

goldfish or parrot from PetSmart would need to live on property zoned

for livestock, which is agricultural acreage.



They also mentioned that if you have an exotic animal, and it

grows "to where it may become a danger", you can't have any children

under 16 living in the same house.



Tell everyone you know who owns any animal under the jurisdiction of

FWCC, whether it's a primate, reptile, sugar glider, parrot, squirrel

or raccoon to show up at the public meeting on the 22nd. You will be

able to speak. Dr. Mitchell told the commissioners FWCC doesn't

enforce their own regulations and he wants his staff to be able to

tell us what to do with our animals.





This is all happening because one commisioner, Ken Welch, has a

personal problem because someone wasn't shaking with fear that he's a

commissioner and didn't answer his questions, so now he's going to

mess with the exotic animal folks and Dr. Mitchell is stating things

that aren't true and trying to get his totally unqualified staff to

regulate exotics.



Everyone....SHOW UP and SPEAK UP! Don't let anyone intimidate you

into not speaking. Everyone's opinion is important.

[ Show Entire Thread ]