Does this seem to prohibit the keeping of wild fish and amphibians?

From my county's animal control ordinance:

Wild animal. Any animal which can normally be found in the wild state, particularly those feral, exotic, dangerous or nondomestic animals which generally do not live in or about the habitation of humans, including, but not limited to, deer, lions, monkeys, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, tigers, and snakes.

Sec. 6-61. Wild animals.

No person, firm, or corporation shall keep, maintain, possess or have within the County any venomous reptile or any other wild or exotic animal. No person shall keep or permit to be kept on his premises any dangerous wild animal. This section shall not be construed to apply to zoological parks, performing animal exhibitions or circuses or licensed wildlife rehabilitators.

(Ord. No. 96-5-8, § 1, 5-7-96)

I'm going by the fact that animal= Kingdom Animalia

VA regulations read similarly. Basically everything is illegal in VA unless said otherwise. And with that said, under the "Fishes" section, it allows collections via various approved methods.

In the broad and vauge sense yes it does provent you from keeping any wild animal including what they outline. I'd imagine if you called up your county directly you'd get a pretty simple answer; likely with a chuckle and some confusion as to why you want to keep bait fish. It's intent is obviously so people don't have things that can do someone harm (liability).

Well when they went to amend the ordinance in 2003 I went and asked the county people at the meeting if it was legal to keep wild caught fish.

I got a confusing answer, they refused to amend the ordinance to address my concerns and I got fed up and dropped the whole thing until now.

To be fair the chairman of the commissioners recognized my concern but the county attorneys?? said it was no big deal.

Now they are having county wide meetings about the ordinance and I am thinking about going tomorrow.

This is Buncombe County, NC

Also since that time the Wildlife people have passed regulations allowing the keeping of certain reptiles and amphibians within certain limits w/o a permit

Edited by Gambusia, 28 July 2008 - 12:57 PM.

My proposed changes underlined:

Sec. 6-61. Wild animals.

No person, firm, or corporation shall keep, maintain, possess or have within the County any venomous reptile or any other wild or exotic animal. This section shall not be construed to apply to zoological parks, performing animal exhibitions or circuses or licensed wildlife rehabilitators. Further this section shall not apply to the keeping of any fish, invertebrates, birds of the orders Galliformes, Anseriformes, and Columbiformes, animals being kept or housed in accordance with the rules, laws and regulations of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission or the United States Fish And Wildlife Service, any non venomous animal lawfully obtained from a pet shop or a licensed breeder,

It's my opinion that the ordinance does not prohibit you from keeping non-endangered wild fish or amphibians. It appears to be targeted at those wild animals that may be dangerous or potentially harmful to other humans. I guess a general rule of thumb is 'If a certain type of animal is available for sale at a pet store, it's legal to keep'.

As the rules of this forum state, we ask that you not act based on others opinions or interpretations of the law. Please ask your local law makers/enforcers for a clear definition of the stated regulations.

It's my opinion that the ordinance does not prohibit you from keeping non-endangered wild fish or amphibians. It appears to be targeted at those wild animals that may be dangerous or potentially harmful to other humans. I guess a general rule of thumb is 'If a certain type of animal is available for sale at a pet store, it's legal to keep'.

I would agree with you except they used the term 'snake' in the definition and you can certainly find corn snakes in the local pet shops here. I brought that up before too but was ignored. Apparently snakes bought at pets shops are illegal.




I am going to meeting on the ordinance tonight.

Hence why I posted this.

I will let you know what I find out.

I certainly want to follow the law.

Out of curiosity...

How does your great County in the great State of North Carolina define domestic animals?

Animalia is not included in the definition and therefore cannot be used to base a judgment. The definition is contradictory by stating one cannot keep animals which generally do not live in or about the habitation of humans, including, but not limited to, deer, lions, monkeys, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, tigers, and snakes, when raccoons, skunks, squirrels, and snakes frequently live within the habitation of human beings.. i.e. their backyards. When was the last time you heard of a neighborhood that didn't have raccoons and squirrels? Anyone lucky enough to live next to a creek will also tell you fish and amphibians live in their backyard as well. Human habitation is global. Very few, if any, animals DON'T live within a Human habitation.

Lawyers write these definitions out of professional courtesy so other lawyers can get rich arguing over it.

Personally, I don't see how anyone could consider a fish in a tank a "wild" animal.

From my county's animal control ordinance:
I'm going by the fact that animal= Kingdom Animalia

I went to the meeting and was told by the officer who enforces the ordinance that wild animal did not include fish but did include everything else, including what is sold at pet stores.

He adimitted the statute was confusing and they were working on improving it