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[VexalUntil]

I got the following from a online herp newsletter, Herpdigest Vol 9 no 25 edited by Allen Salzberg

Gator On The Loose? Maybe Not For Long –Oregon Senate Passes Bill Prohibiting Private Ownership Of Exotic Animals -
(Editor Have yet to see bill to see their definition of exotic animals.)

By David Holley

The South County Spotlight, Jun 10, 2009, Updated 13.1 hours ago

A recent incident involving a missing alligator in St. Helens is an example of the reason state legislators are pushing for a law that would make owning some exotic animals illegal.

Senate Bill 391 would prohibit private ownership of crocodiles, alligators, monkeys and other exotic animals. The Oregon senate passed the bill, and it is scheduled for discussion by the house sometime this week.

An alligator escaped from Misty Fox’s 14th Street St. Helens home on May 17, but was returned to her by the next week, she said.

Fox, who owns a state-licensed business that sells bred reptiles and amphibians, said she did not want to comment on the alligator’s disappearance. Fox owns the alligator privately, not through her business.

The tale of her escaped alligator is similar to one that occurred in Beaverton seven years ago. Al the alligator wandered out of his owners home, frightening many neighbors who didn’t know they lived near an alligator.

Sen. Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, cosponsored SB 391 and used Al the alligator’s escape as one example of why the private ownership ban on these animals should be in place.

The bill would allow people who currently own alligators, like Fox, to keep them, as long as they have a state-issued permit for it. Owners will have up to a year to renew their permits, and then the state will discontinue issuing them.

That will shift most of the permitting process to the United States Department of Agriculture.

While searching for Fox’s three-foot-long alligator in May, Laura Snyder, an animal control code enforcement officer for St. Helens Police, said that people shouldn’t bee too worried about alligators that small. Adult males can reach up to 13 feet in length.

“They’re pretty wary of us,” Snyder said about young alligators. “They kind of try to stay away from us.”

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This appears to be the full text of the bill: Relating to exotic animals; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 609.305, 609.309, 609.312, 609.315, 609.319 and 609.335.