This story has been updated. The original story stated that the city had approved the ordinance. It approved the added amendment and will make a final vote at its June 12 meeting.
The city of Richmond unanimously voted to amend its proposed exotic animal ban to allow some exceptions.
The new amendment, approved at its Monday night meeting, will allow owners of venomous or poisonous reptiles or amphibians to keep their pets as long as they meet certain requirements through a permit.
The decision comes following a plea from Richmond Animal Control and Care Director Christie Peters, who pushed for the adoption of the ordinance.
After reviewing the city’s current animal-related municipal code, Peters said the department needs a protocol in place in order to ensure both staff and community are safe.
People are also reading…
“We have a house right now where we know raccoons are living in it,” Peters said at a previous meeting. “We want something in city code that ... we can move forward with when we know there is someone living with 20 raccoons in their house.”
The ordinance defines an exotic or wild animal as any warm or cold-blooded animal born in the wild. This includes any primates, raccoons, possums, skunks, wolves, coyotes, squirrels, foxes, leopards, panthers, lynxes, caracals, bobcats, lions, tigers, bears, venomous or poisonous reptiles or any member of the crocodilian family.
Animals exempt from the ordinance include those that are born and held in captivity “that have never known the wild,” including chinchillas, hedgehogs, hamsters, guinea pigs, rats, mice, imported birds, non-venomous reptiles and amphibians as well as fish.
If a resident is caught within city limits in possession of one of the listed animals, they will be charged with a class 3 misdemeanor, which carries with it a fine up to $500 in the event of conviction.
According to the ordinance, zoos, animal exhibitions, circuses, wildlife rehabilitators and veterinary clinics will be excluded from the ban. State and federal wildlife management agencies will also be excluded.
“This allows us to make sure we can keep our human population safe from some of the unsafe animals that citizens may want to acquire,” Peters said.
There is previous precedent for the adoption of the ordinance.
Peters said the department began considering the ban nearly seven years ago when someone went to the animal shelter to inquire about permitting for a black panther.
In 2018, a Chesterfield County man was arrested and charged with illegally possessing diamondback rattlesnakes.
In 2012, an amateur naturalist in the county, who kept and cared for numerous reptiles, was found dead after he was bitten on the finger by one of his venomous snakes.
“The worry is that if that snake kills you in your house and we have to go and get you, we want to know that we’re walking into a house that has venomous snakes,” Peters said.
