GRAND FORKS HERALD (N Dakota) 27 January 05 House bans ownership of poisonous snakes
Bismarck (AP): North Dakota's House has agreed to ban private ownership of poisonous snakes, responding to an incident in which two Bismarck men ordered deadly reptiles over the Internet and then showed them off.
Rep. Dwight Wrangham, R-Bismarck, said the legislation permits someone to keep a poisonous snake only if he or she has a permit from the state veterinarian, intends to use the reptile for education, and has the ability to handle and care for it.
Last July, police found four deadly snakes in a Bismarck apartment. Andrew Greff and Doug Feist were charged with misdemeanor reckless endangerment.
The men told authorities they felt safe with the snakes because they lived near a hospital, where they could go if they were bitten.
Representatives chuckled as Wrangham described the reasons for the bill, which was approved 88-0 on Wednesday. It now goes to the Senate for additional review.
The bill is HB1326.
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/10744322.htm
BUCKS COUNTY COURIER TIMES (Levittown, Pennsylvania) 26 January 05 N.D. to Ban Ownership of Poisonous Snakes
Bismark, N.D. (AP): North Dakota's House has agreed to ban private ownership of poisonous snakes, responding to an incident in which two Bismarck men ordered deadly reptiles over the Internet and then showed them off.
Rep. Dwight Wrangham, R-Bismarck, said the legislation permits someone to keep a poisonous snake only if he or she has a permit from the state veterinarian, intends to use the reptile for education, and has the ability to handle and care for it.
Last July, police found four deadly snakes in a Bismarck apartment. Andrew Greff and Doug Feist were charged with misdemeanor reckless endangerment.
The men told authorities they felt safe with the snakes because they lived near a hospital, where they could go if they were bitten.
Representatives chuckled as Wrangham described the reasons for the bill, which was approved 88-0 on Wednesday. It now goes to the Senate for additional review.
"These individuals had taken these snakes to at least one school, under the false premise of getting them identified," Wrangham said. "They knew what they were. They just took them there so they had an excuse to show people what they had."
After the snake incident, Greff lost his left arm in a pipe bomb explosion.
The bill is HB1326.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/84-01262005-439318.html
.... and just because you've already read this far ...
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER (Washington) 26 January 05 Proposed bill would prohibit owning dangerous wild animals (Kelly Kearsley)
Olympia, Washington (AP): Douglas Taylor knew he loved snakes from the first time he saw one at the tender age of 8. Now 40, the Snohomish County firefighter has turned his passion for the creatures into a lucrative hobby.
A proposed bill may put the brakes on his snake-breeding business.
The legislation would prohibit Washington residents from owning dangerous wild animals such as certain snakes, large cats, wolves, bears, monkeys, primates and crocodiles.
Taylor testified Wednesday against the bill at a public hearing hosted by the House Judiciary Committee, saying he'd lose as much as $15,000 a year because some of the snakes he owns and sells would be banned.
"There's been no epidemic of death or destruction by reptiles," he said.
Under the proposed law, local animal control authorities would be able to confiscate dangerous wild animals from people owning them illegally and relocate the creatures to zoos or wildlife sanctuaries.
The animals might be euthanized as a last resort.
Current owners could keep their animals until 2010. At that point, they would need permission from animal control officials to own the pets.
The intent of the bill is to protect the public from dangerous animals and protect the animals from possibly inadequate care from private owners, said Nicole Paquette, a lawyer for the Animal Protection Institute.
The California-based organization, which has championed similar legislation in other states, has been trying to pass the law in Washington for the past five years.
"Wild animals are inherently dangerous," she said. "And the private sector can't provide the care and treatment that they need."
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife doesn't track the number of people injured or killed by privately owned wild animals.
Mike Wyche, the general curator of Cat Tales, a zoological park outside of Spokane, told committee members that Cat Tales receives hundreds of calls from people who own exotic animals or want them.
Past inquiries have included "Where can I buy a tiger?" and "My cougar needs a home. I'm getting married and it doesn't like my girlfriend," according to a log of phone calls Wyche presented the lawmakers.
"It's an ego trip to own these animals, and it's sheer greed that drives people to breed them," he said.
But for Jeanne Hall, president of the Phoenix Exotics Wildlife Association, owning the animals is more of a rescue mission than an ego boost.
"The drive for most private owners is to simply care for animals that need to be rescued," said Hall, who owns exotic cats.
Private owners, she said, many times take in injured or older animals that may not be eligible for spaces in zoos or wildlife sanctuaries. Owners would also lose the money they've invested in housing the animals, she said.
And then there's just the pure joy of owning a gigantic snake.
H. Phil Rodenberg reminded the lawmakers of this with a photograph of him and some school children playing with his albino Burmese python name Weezer.
"Really, you've never met a sweeter snake," he told the committee.
A public hearing on a companion bill was scheduled Thursday before a Senate committee.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=WA XGR Dangerous Animals
