Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in West Bend, Wisconsin.
Last year the City passed restrictions prohibiting the ownership of any venomous/poisonous snake, any constricting snake, and any snake over four feet in length. Along with restrictions against owning any/all Arachnids.
The owners of both Pet Shops in town, and myself are going to try and get the City Law updated/changed. We are going to meet this Sunday to discuss are options and make a plan of where to start. I was advised to take the matter to our City Aldermann first.
Can anyone give us advice?
Thank You for your time.

When talking with your local Alderman, be sure that you are able to substantiate what you present. If possible enlist some authorities such as univeristy professors, veternarians and other professionals to help with a presentation as to why these animals should be allowed to be kept. Next, have an alternate plan ready, one that could replace the current regulations. PARC has an excellent template that can be used. And third, suggest a permit system. This would allow the tracking of "restricted reptiles" instead of everybody going underground. ~Bill~ LGCHS Legislative Chairman
Link

Do you think that taking a friendly kingsnake to the meeting would help, so that they could get a first-hand look at what a "constrictor" type snake reall looks like?

Katrina

It would probably be counter-productive and could backfire if someone at the meeting had a real phobia about snakes. The council is representing a constituency that will not be there to view a kingsnake. The best presentation is that of strong logic and constitutional law backed up with professional testimony, i.e. vets, professors, etc. The kingsnale appearance could come later. ~Bill~
Link

There is a lot of information on the WI Herpetological Society link that can be used to argue against such ordinances. La Crosse County herpers recently informed me that it was immensely helpful to them in getting their exotic pet ban stopped. It is often said that it is easier to get proposed laws stopped than to reverse existing laws, and with the recent incident in Eagle, the timing is not good.

The strategy in the LaCrosse victory was to demand that the county show them the numbers to justify the ban. There were no numbers to be shown, so the matter was dropped. Except for one incident involving a lion (which were already illegal), La Crosse Co. could not show any actual incidents of exotic pets or reptiles causing harm to persons or property. Meanwhile, the herpers then demanded that La Crosse co. show the number of cases of harm to persons or property caused by all animals, and, you guessed it:
There were 200 dog attacks in the last year in that county, some of them causing serious and disfiguring injuries, but nobody was talking about banning dogs or placing any restrictions on their ownership! You need to find out why the west bend law was passed in the first place. Was there a precipitating incident with a snake over 4 feet long? If not, demand justification for the law. Nation wide, the only snakes that have ever attacked and killed people are Python molurus, reticulatus, and sebae. That may be justification for banning those three species (even thought the persons attacked are always the owners or keepers), but only those. Email me at wireptileshows@hotmail.com if you would like me to put you in contact with the LaCrosse group who may be able to give you more info on their strategy, or with another west bend herper who may be able to assist you. Good Luck and let me know what happens. Ed Stone
WI Herpetological Society

Good luck in your venture. I will be going to Brookfield in the coming week to see family and all have been talking about the man in Eagle. The majority of them say that the reason they don't live in Fla is b/c there are snakes and up there they are safe. Personally when I am up there I plan to talk with them to help them understand snakes better but I don't know how it will go. I think what you are doing is great.

Abby
Central FL

Some of the laws and ordinances are pretty screwy. The recently formed Coulee Region Herpetological Society was able to stop more restrictive ordinances in their tracks by showing the absence of need, added cost, and improper impractical use of manpower. We were very lucky in stopping the ordinance, but it was a tough battle. I personally met with nearly all of the 35 board members. I have tons of statistics and data that can help. Email me at school mbechtel@mail.sdlax.k12.wi.us Good luck!