Finding Out Venomous Laws?

stevesemerko · 12-07-03, 05:35 AM

Does anyone know how I can find out what the laws for keeping venomous snakes are in my city? I have tried a ton of different things but they don't seem to be working. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

Jeff Hathaway · 12-07-03, 08:37 AM

Visit city hall and ask to read the animal control (animal services, or other names are possible) by-law. Sit down and read through it, skipping the sections on dogs and cats but paying close attention to anything related to prohibited animals, and the definitions (at the beginning) of any related terms.

Or for the simple way, go to www.ontarioherpers.org and check out the laws section. Peterborough by-laws are listed there, and apparently venomous species (and crocodilians) are prohibited. No surprise there. You can download a .pdf version of the text of the by-law to find out the details.

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

Fat Cat · 12-07-03, 04:46 PM

I cant find anything on Oshawa, is there any laws in oshawa?

jason h · 12-07-03, 06:20 PM

the bylaws for oshawa are no constrictors,venomous,or crocodilians

casacrow · 12-07-03, 08:28 PM

Steve,

Just pop into city hall. They were great when I went and even photo copied everything I needed. You may be shocked when you find out that you have to register every python and boa you own at a fee of $10 each. Although you only have to pay for the first 3 boas and pythons registered.

-----DONNY

stewart · 12-07-03, 09:07 PM

No venomous allowed to be kept in Peterborough.

stewart · 12-07-03, 09:12 PM

http://www1.city.peterborough.on.ca/...lregistrat.pdf

Lisa · 12-08-03, 11:48 AM

It's getting to the point that if you want to keep venomous you need to live in the country, away from people.

Also keep in mind that the ontario ministry of resources permits over ride the city ordinance in regards to the species that they control (ie massagua rattlers). if you managed to get a permit for one you could keep it (but no other venomous species) in a place that prohibited venomous snake keeping.

liltattyprinces · 12-09-03, 01:43 PM

question for you all If i were to acquire a lovely Blood python here in Ottawa would i have to register it like casacrow said just curious. am i supposed to registar my BP's as well ?

MouseKilla · 12-09-03, 04:51 PM

I can't seem to find what penalties are called for (should someone be careless enough to get caught) in the text of the laws... To me that's the issue, what are they going to do about it? Are the penalties different for owning a truly harmless, though illegal boid, such as a BP and say a Retic? Are they different still if you have a mildly venomous snake like a vine and are the rules equally applied to these as they would be to a Boomslang or Mamba? Are we talking about a $50 fine or 2 years in prison here? To me that would make the difference. Anyone ever get pinched with anything their city didn't allow? If so I would be interested to know what the consequences were.

jason h · 12-09-03, 08:44 PM

well to me the hard part is that you must get rid of or they confiscate your snakes,mind you you may be facing some heavy fines for venomous.

Jeff Hathaway · 12-09-03, 08:54 PM

The penalties are not different between species. Laws are written such that penalties are 'up to $5000 fine', etc. so that judges have some leeway with sentencing. Hopefully, you would be fined a small amount for a ball python compared to what might result from a mamba! It is up to the judge, though there are often recommendations from attorneys.

I believe that in the Toronto saw-scale escape incident, $14000 in fines were levied- $1000 for each prohibited species. This is unusually high, I think, but it reflects the severity of the situation- multiple highly dangerous specimens poorly enclosed in a multi-unit dwelling, and one escapes...

And although Lisa is correct, it is extremely unlikely that anyone is going to be given a permit for an eastern massasauga by the MNR.

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

MouseKilla · 12-10-03, 02:31 PM

So we're talking about a fine that may be higher or lower relative to the perceived threat that the particular animal would pose in the event that it escaped? Sounds reasonable to me... I guess there couldn't be any criminal penalty unless someone was actually hurt by an escaped animal making it more than an issue of simply posessing an animal that is deemed potentially dangerous and forbidden by municipal legislation...

I think these by-laws are unfair because they presume that anyone that would want to keep a large boid or venomous snake is irresponsible (and probably a weirdo anyway!). We often hear the owners of pitbulls talking about how their pets are discriminated against because of a few bad owners but at least they are able to not only have them legally but can, with a leash, take them out in public. Anyone ever take their burm out for a walk? Ever play frisbee in the park with your retic? Probably not. Both the dogs and the large snakes are potentially dangerous, even deadly and even though the snakes will probably never come in contact with the public only the dog owner is given the benefit of the doubt and is presumed responsible, we trust him to obey the leash law. If he doesn't use the leash or his dog hops the neighbor's fence and mauls a toddler we throw the book at him and rightly so. The snake owner on the other hand isn't even given the opportunity to act responsibly. This is really odd to me because in my experience snake owners appreciate the strength and potential danger that comes with owning a big snake far more than the owners of large dogs. Most large dog owners will not prevent a child from petting the animal. Of any of the people I have ever known that have kept large boids all of them have taken great care to prevent the escape of their animals and none would even consider letting a child stick their hand into an enclosure to pet the snake.

Oh well, I'm preaching to the choir here so I'll leave it alone now... lol!