THE OREGONIAN (Portland, Oregon) 29 December 09 Animal-protection laws put Oregon among top 5 states (Jacques Von Lunen) {Excerpts}
Anyone exploiting, neglecting or abusing animals will have an even harder time in Oregon come Friday.
A number of new animal laws will take effect Jan.1 in Oregon, which the Animal Legal Defense Fund ranks among the nation's top five states for going after animal abusers.
This year's legislative session debated 16 bills concerning animals, an unprecedented number. Some bills -- the umpteenth attempt to ban pit bulls, for example -- died on the vine. Some deal only with the finer points of enforcing animal law.
But six of the bills the governor signed are of direct concern to animal owners. Here's a look at the most profound changes.
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Large exotics
S.B. 391 modifies existing law regarding private ownership of primates, large exotic cats, canines that aren't domestic dogs, bears and crocodilians.
Up until now, you could own one of these, provided you fulfilled a number of requirements regarding care and safety and obtained a permit from the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
The new law allows those who've been issued a permit previously, or who obtain one within 90 days of Jan.1, to keep their animals. Someone who buys an animal from that list before Jan.1 and can prove that the animal is kept in the manner required by law can get a permit within one year.
In essence, you can't buy a new exotic pet after Friday, and the agriculture department will not issue any new permits after Jan. 1, 2011.
The law provides a number of exemptions, such as for service monkeys used by people with certain disabilities, research facilities, wildlife rehabilitation centers and others.
But private ownership of these animals as pets will become severely limited.
The law does not affect owners of common exotics such as parrots, rodents, snakes or other reptiles.
It makes an exception for exotic felines that weigh less than 50 pounds, if they're used to breed hybrid cats such as Bengal or Savannah cats.
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Animal-protection laws put Oregon among top 5 states