Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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.

Prior to last nights public hearing, the first information received was that we were going to be fighting a ban. Then it was discovered that it was "only" about cage setbacks for "livestock" and did not apply to any of us and we should all stay home. What the commissioners did not tell us, but the county attorney did, was that the county definition of livestock includes ALL animals regulated by Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission...that's exotics.

Then we were told to view a video of a work session the board held in January to see what the TRUE agenda was. This is available online via the county website. They clearly state that they want to regulate cage setbacks of "wild animals" as a "first step to having more control." Animal Control states FWC is not doing their job appropriately. AC and the county commissioners discussed and plan to get with Hillsborough County and see what they can come up with as far as addressing their concerns on a state level w/FWC.

When the question was asked by the county commission whether or not they have the authority to regulate, one response was "we can make their lives miserable." This was an off-hand sarcastic comment coming from one of the commissioners who was actually arguing that it was too much government interference and that there had been NO problems with exotics in Pinellas County, but this is EXACTLY what their agenda is. If they cannot regulate us because it's FWC's jurisdiction, then they will make our lives miserable by passing zoning regulations that would make it impossible for some people to comply. Very few new permits would be issued because many would not meet the land and zoning requirements. If a cage were to come down in a hurricane (we had 4 last year) in many cases it could not be rebuilt according to the new setback zoning regulations and those people would be SOL. They would be forced to give up their animal(s)
or move. In addition, if one wanted to build a second cage for
additional animals it most likely cannot be done.

Several exotic animal owners attended the hearing and spoke
to the board. In my opinion, the speeches were outstanding. They
confronted the commissioners with many excellent legitimate concerns and questions. They stated facts and exposed many of the unwarranted statements we have heard from a certain few individuals pursuing this ordinance. Unfortunately, our opinions do not hold water to whatever the county decides to do.

The county attorney did mention that all current permit holders will be grandfathered regarding the zoning ordinance. However, the commission signed off on a letter to the state FWC expressing their concerns and one of the items they would like addressed is the definition of "appropriate" neighborhood. One comment was made that a facility could meet the state defined acreage and caging requirements BUT if this facility happens to be located next to a school, they do not feel this should be considered "appropriate".

Again, they want us to believe that this was "JUST" about cage set backs for "livestock" ... they kept mentioning roosters during the public meeting when just 3 hours earlier during their non public meeting they CLEARLY verbalize EXOTIC animals such as tigers and bringing up the tiger escape/shooting incident in South Florida not too long ago as an example of why they feel these animals should not be allowed in Pinellas County.

Bottom line is they passed the issue of setting cage setbacks
for "livestock" in this county. If you have a small lot, you are
screwed. It's a ban in disguise is what the county is calling
a "zoning" issue. On one of the tapes, they mention "it's a start" to gain more control over "wild animals" in our community.... a few words that confirm we have not seen the end of this........ I truly believe Hillsborough County will be next to get involved in this mess. Why can't they just leave it as is and let the FWC continue to do their job? We are already regulated by them and many are also regulated by USDA..... Is that too much to ask?

If i am not mistaken...individual cities and counties do not regulate any of this...they can try...but if taken to state court it is regulated by FWC...the state...not the counties...and the state law comes first before the county or city.
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Michael Enriquez