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Bill in Maryland
From HERPDIGEST:
Exotic Animals Bill Introduced In Maryland
Last week, the Judiciary committee of Maryland’s House of General
Assembly received a bill aimed to control the possession of exotic animals
in Maryland. The bill, HB339, which was also introduced in the Senate as
Senate Bill 296, was read into the record and a public hearing was
scheduled for 2/9/05 at 1 PM.
Besides several mammals (all wild species of dogs, cats-also hybrids of
wild and domestic cats and dogs, all non-human primates, bears, skunks
raccoons and foxes), the bill, as it is currently written, outlaws the
possession, sale, trade or barter of alligators, crocodiles, caimans,
and any poisonous reptiles from the Hydrophidae, Elapidae, Viperidae, or
Crotolidae families.
There is a grandfather clause for animals already in possession, which
under terms outlined in the law, allows their owners to keep the animal
if it is registered with the government. The draft states that the
penalty for an individual should not exceed $1,000, for an organization
$10,000.
If passed the law is to go into effect June 1, 2006.
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