THUNDER BAY – Lise Parent wants the city to allow ball pythons to be kept as pets.
“Ball pythons are among the most widely kept reptiles in Canada and globally. They are non-venomous, docile, and small – typically 0.9 to 1.5 metres in length, and weighing less than the average household cat or small dog,” Parent wrote in her submission to the city’s finance and administration standing committee.
Parent will give a deputation on Tuesday, asking the city’s finance and administration standing committee to consider changing the city’s animal keeping bylaw to exempt ball pythons from a ban on exotic animals.
Parent, in her written submission to the city, explains that she doesn’t want the by-law reviewed or changed, but requests administration narrow the scope of the by-law to allow ball pythons as pets.
“No risk to the environment – ball pythons cannot survive Canadian winters and therefore pose no invasive species threat. Safe for the community – they have an excellent track record in Canada, with no recorded serious incidents. They are consistently recognized as one of the safest reptiles to own,” wrote Parent.
She said many Canadian municipalities allow non-venomous snakes up to a certain length, including Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Marathon, and neighbouring municipalities such as Neebing, Shuniah, O’Connor, and Greenstone have no restrictions on keeping them.
Changing the bylaw to allow ball pythons would pose some challenges the city isn’t prepared to handle, Keri Greaves, commissioner of corporate services, told Newswatch.
“There are definitely challenges in how we might enforce this bylaw exemption for this particular type of python. The reality is that we don’t have the infrastructure in place to seize snakes or other animals. The pound is really just for dogs and cats, but mostly dogs, and we’re near capacity on that as it is. It would have to be very complaint driven. We would have to establish the parameters of how we would investigate allegations of snakes that may or may not be of that very specific species,” Greaves said.
He said the work to enforce the bylaw, including training officers and putting in the infrastructure to support snakes at the pound, has not been determined at this time.
However, if the committee endorses the bylaw change, city staff will provide that information to city council.
A staff report to the committee states that although ball pythons are not venomous, they can still strike and constrict when stressed. These cases are rare, but bites do happen and can cause infection and other health complications. Even smaller snakes can present risks to pets, children, and others in the household when they act on defensive or predatory instincts.
Moreover, Greaves said the city doesn’t have “any information on how the snakes might be kept currently or there’s no real way for us to ensure that the snakes are being cared for correctly.”
“If a snake were to escape their home and get into the environment, we don’t think it would survive winters. But what would happen if it did get out? Would it cause harm to the environment? It’s hard to say. There are some organizations that believe it wouldn’t be good for the environment,” he said.
“There are also organizations who are against keeping any exotic animals as pets, just for more humane reasons, because once you start having exotic animals as pets, then there’s potential poaching and breeding. We don’t want to support that industry and give any reason for people or organizations to do anything that might not be in the best interest of the animal.”
