County Drafting Exotic Pet Rules Cases Of Escaped Cougar, Lions Spark Attempts At Regulation
Spokane County is taking another shot at corralling its exotic animal owners.
County planners and animal control officials are crafting an addition to the county’s zoning code that would regulate how private exotic-animal owners keep and care for their pets.
The ordinance could regulate lot size, the property’s proximity to schools and public gathering places, how close an animal’s cage is built to the property line and the strength of wire used to build the cage.
The definition of an exotic animal has yet to be set, but generally would include wild animals not traditionally kept as pets.
Nancy Sattin, county animal control director, estimated as many as 100 exotic animals are kept as pets in Spokane County. They include cougars, Bengal tigers, bobcats and lions.
The county tried unsuccessfully to adopt an exotic animal ordinance in 1992. Several exotic animal owners complained the proposal was too restrictive. Animal control officials said the proposed law was too vague.
County planners hope to strike a better balance this time.
Stacy Bjordahl of the county planning department said she will spend the next month studying ordinances from King and Kootenai counties as well as the 1992 proposal before drafting one for Spokane County.
“Our intent is to determine which (land-use) zones would be appropriate for (exotic) animals, work up what an exotic animal would be and put a definition into the zoning code,” Bjordahl said.
Recent high-profile cases of exotic animals escaping from their cages have sparked interest in the ordinance. A Spokane Valley resident had to drag her cougar back to its cage after the 150-pound cat got free earlier this month.
Fifteen full-grown African lions were killed in September after they escaped from a compound in southern Idaho. And a 2-year-old, 18-pound bobcat wiggled out of its pen, but did not escape from a private zoo in north Spokane in June.
“I think people are ready to have them regulated,” Sattin said.
The county now has no way of regulating private collections. State law requires an exotic animal be purchased from an out-of-state dealer or received as a gift.
The animal also must be captive-born and bred.
LaVina McGlenn, who owns the cougar that roamed freely in the Valley for about two hours, advocated owner education and pet licensing.
However, regulating lot size, location and requiring inspections was not necessary, she said, because her declawed cougar, Charlie, poses no threat to neighbors.
“He’s more afraid of people than people are of him,” McGlenn said.
However, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife does not recommend keeping exotic animals as pets, even if they were born in captivity, said spokeswoman Madonna Luers.
“Species have certain instincts programmed into them, much like a house cat,” Luers said.
“That’s a predator instinct to seek out and kill. I don’t know that by domesticating any animal you ever remove that.”
Sattin wants to see the county’s exotic animals licensed and registered with her office.
Sattin said owners should be required to renew the license yearly.
Inspections to assure that public safety and animal care is maintained also should be conducted by animal control every year as a condition of renewing the license, she said.
Current animal owners probably won’t have to move their pets, but the proposed ordinance probably would require them to comply with guidelines for care and licensing.
“I don’t think we want to be overly regulatory in this venture,” said commissioner Steve Hasson.
A draft of the ordinance could be ready for a public hearing before the planning committee as early as February, Bjordahl said.
Once approved, the ordinance then would be submitted for approval by county commissioners.
Hasson said commissioners are hopeful the ordinance will be in place by mid-summer, but admitted it may be controversial.
“We’re not talking animals,” Hasson said.
“Regardless of their size, they are a family member.”
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