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Chickens OK, big snakes out as Baltimore revamps pet regs
BALTIMORE - If you're hoping to make that breakthrough music video at home with your 8-foot pet python, don't move to Baltimore.
Snakes, caimans and lizards over 5 feet long would be banned under new pet regulations proposed by the city's health department. So would roosters, ducks and many other farm fowl, although chickens could be kept after obtaining an $80 permit.
Green iguanas would be allowed but only if they're between 30 inches and 5 feet.
Residents' complaints about noise and unsanitary conditions and health department concerns about disease prompted the proposal, health department officials said.
The city has not had regulations on exotic or farm animals, relying instead on zoning or nuisance laws. The proposed regulations gives city officials "a little more leverage, enforcement-wise," Olivia Farrow, assistant commissioner for environmental health, told The (Baltimore) Sun.
"It's really important because we're seeing a growing number of persons in the city trying to harbor these types of animals," Farrow said. "And we're really worried about the health of the animals themselves."
Bob Anderson, the city's animal control director, said his department handles 30,000 calls a year involving everything from pigeons to pigs to bees. One resident called to complain about a neighbor who was slaughtering nine sheep.
"There's never a dull moment," Anderson said.
The Health Department is allowing public comments on the proposed regulations for 30 days, through March 2.
Brian O'Neill, owner of the Wet Pet & Reptile Center in Essex, said the proposal "just seems ridiculous to me."
Larger snakes are not necessarily more dangerous, O'Neill said, noting corn snakes can be 6 feet long, but are only about an inch in diameter.
Pigeons and Vietnamese potbellied pigs would also be allowed under the $80 permit. Up to 50 pigeons would be allowed per residence, which could upset some fanciers.
"Yes, we're concerned," said Charles Ray, 60, president of the South Baltimore Social Club, part of the Baltimore Pigeon Fanciers Club.
Ray, who lives in Pasadena, said most pigeon racers have between 65 and 200 birds and although the sport is not as popular as it once was, the city still has a number of fanciers. Ray said he would like to know the reason for the 50-pigeon limit.
"If it's just something they're just throwing into the book ... then I don't think it's fair," Ray said. "I would like to know why."
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