Hide your cheetahs and giraffes.
After documenting the type and volume of animal-related calls received from citizens for more than a year, Cherokee County officials decided to adopt a new ordinance that addresses the possession of exotic animals.
The new animal control ordinance, adopted by unanimous vote at the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners meeting May 3, repeals a prior law that had been on the books since 2001. Officials say the old ordinance had many redundancies of state law.
“We’re getting rid of something that has long been obsolete and replaced by state statute,” county attorney Darryl Brown said at the meeting. “The only thing that was not addressed under state law that we thought would be necessary to deal with through a local ordinance had to do purely with exotic animals.”
Essentially, the new ordinance prohibits the possession of any “inherently dangerous or exotic animal,” which is defined as “any beast, fowl or creeping thing” that is likely to cause a reasonable person to be fearful of significant destruction of property or bodily harm. The ordinance lists examples of prohibited animals, which includes reptiles that produce venom, constricting snakes longer than 6 feet, non-human primates heavier than 10 pounds, plus crocodiles, elephants, ocelots, cheetahs and giraffes.
The new law includes exceptions for people or agencies licensed to possess exotic animals, such as zoo, circus and carnival operators. Additionally, the ordinance prohibits the possession of any animal that has been banned by national or state public health protection agencies, as well as any dog that has been designated as “dangerous” under North Carolina law.
“The designation of dangerous dogs falls under the jurisdiction of the health department, and there is due process in place through state statutes that takes care of that,” Brown said while explaining why the new law does not address as many issues as the previous ordinance.
By completely repealing the prior ordinance, officials also eliminated language that was not enforceable by a court, such as the definition of animal nuisance. The previous ordinance defined animal nuisance as behavior by any pet that repeatedly disturbs, interferes or annoys human beings.
“We couldn’t find any jurisdiction in the state that has enforceable ordinances addressing animal nuisance or barking dogs,” Sheriff Derrick Palmer told the Cherokee Scout. “You can’t control when a dog is going to bark.”
Officials say complaints about aggressive dogs and animal nuisance are among the top five animal-related calls police have received over the last year. However, many of the issues are not criminal, but rather civil matters.
Even though the nuisance clause has been removed from the local animal control ordinance, citizens are encouraged to call police about domestic pets when they believe an issue exists.
“A criminal act may not have occurred, but we’ll still respond to intervene [in a dispute between neighbors],” Palmer said, adding that Deputy Rebekah Snyder will continue to investigate animal-related calls on a full-time basis.
“We get a lot of people walking down the street who complain about a dog in its own yard that’s growling and barking at them. But it’s not illegal for a dog to bite you on its own property. An aggressive dog has to be away from its property, roaming the neighborhood or on someone else’s property before it becomes a criminal matter.”
Officials say pet leashes are the only animal-related issues that remain unaddressed by either state law or the local ordinance. However, the topic is off the table due to the possible political blowback from hunters across the county.