CT Zoo Offers Exotic Animal Amnesty

[Guest guest]

Looking To Safely Unload That Pet Hippopotamus? This Is Your Chance

Exotic animal amnesty meant to keep creatures out of the wilderness

 

 

By Judy

Benson Published on 6/3/2009

 

http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=c821aa18-e670-4a7f-a291-3c4b83e91f5b

 

If your pet python is getting to be too much to handle, or the

alligator you once thought would be a fun house guest has outgrown the

bathtub, the state Department of Environmental Protection is offering a

solution.

On July 25, owners of exotic pets obtained both legally and illegally can

turn them in without risk of penalty at the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport

in a no-questions-asked Exotic Animal Amnesty Day.

”We are looking for people to turn in exotic animals they own that may

violate Connecticut's ban on possession of a range of dangerous animals,”

said Susan Frechette, DEP deputy commissioner. “Simply put, these animals

can be dangerous to own as pets. We are also looking for people to turn

in exotic animals they may hold legally but may not want any longer.”

 

EXOTIC ANIMAL AMNESTY DAY

WHERE: Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport

WHEN: July 25, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

WHAT: Reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, fish and invertebrates

brought in secure carriers will be accepted. Domestic pets such as cats

and dogs will not be accepted.

More information: Call the DEP Environmental Conservation Police at

424-3012 or send an e-mail to: DEP.

EnConPolice.

Releasing non-native animals into the wild can harm the state's native

plants and animals, she said. In the Florida Everglades and other parts

of the country, non-native species such as pythons that were once pets

are a major problem.

DEP spokesman Dennis Schain said Monday that the DEP began talks with the

Beardsley Zoo a couple of months ago about an amnesty day, after the

problem of possession of exotic animals received attention when a

chimpanzee owned by a Stamford woman seriously assaulted a friend

visiting the home. The owner had obtained the chimpanzee legally, Schain

said, but had not applied for a permit she needed to continue keeping it.

 

In another recent case, an alligator that had apparently been released by

its former owner was found in the Connecticut River near South Windsor.

The alligator was captured and taken to an approved reptile zoo in

Massachusetts, Schain said.

”This offers people a way to safely relinquish ownership,” he said.

 

The Beardsley Zoo will examine animals brought in, provide veterinary

care if needed, and take them to facilities licensed to care for them.

 

Amnesty Day was announced Friday, as a bill pending in the General

Assembly that would have added more animals to the list of those already

banned in the state died before reaching a final vote. DEP officials had

testified in support of the bill, which would have made possession of

primates, alligators, kangaroos, wolverines, hippopotamuses,

rhinoceroses, elephants, pythons and other dangerous snakes, lemurs,

loris, prairie dogs, certain poisonous spiders and certain poisonous

frogs illegal. It would also have increased penalties for possession of

these animals.

Lawmakers from the northwest corner district where the Commerford family

exotic animal farm is located successfully fought the bill, however.

 

The keeping of exotic animals as pets has been a growing problem, with

dealers smuggling in rare and endangered animals and selling them

illegally, or people purchasing exotic animals legally and finding

they're unable to properly care for them.

Alicia Wright, public relations director at the Connecticut Humane

Society, said the organization is concerned about non-domestic animals in

homes, and believes that wild animals should be left in the wild. People

who bring exotic pets such as snakes to a humane society shelter are

referred to approved rescue organizations for those animals, because the

shelters are not equipped to care for them, she said.

”In an emergency, we'll take them and transport them to a rescue

organization ourselves,” she said.

The amnesty day, she said, is a good idea.

”It's great that the DEP and Beardsley Zoo are looking to do outreach and

be proactive,” she

said.

 

 

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