State Rep. Abby Major isn’t looking to make exotic pets illegal in Pennsylvania.
She knows people like their boa constrictors and tarantulas and potentially enormous reptiles. But the 60th District legislator would like to enforce a little more responsibility.
She has introduced legislation to make the law have a little more bite when it comes to releasing those animals into the wild. Do it now and it’s a third-degree misdemeanor — just a step up from a traffic ticket.
Major wants it to be a first-degree misdemeanor. That can mean higher fines and even jail time. At the high end, you could spend five years in jail.
That might seem high for opening the back door and letting your golden retriever loose. But what about an animal that could eat that dog — or cause real injury to a person or damage the ecosystem. What if it’s even cruel to the animal itself?
This bill is coming after a year with repeated instances of alligators loosed in the Kiski River, which flows through Major’s district. Then there are the snakes dumped at Ross Community Park. She is responding to a weird but real issue.
In September, Kiski Township officials tried to handle the problem by drafting an ordinance to more closely regulate exotic pets in their boundaries. The effort fell apart after a contentious township meeting when people responded with unexpected outrage.
It makes sense to address the problem on a state level, specifically because of where these animals are popping up. Pennsylvania’s rivers snake across boundaries. A reptile released in one municipality can easily end up in another.
Then there’s the fact that Pennsylvania’s navigable public waters, including rivers, fall under the ownership and responsibility of the state. The state has an interest in keeping those waters free of non-native predatory species.
Should it have gotten this far? No. But for consistency’s sake, it’s probably best to be handled at a statewide level rather than a municipal one.
And to reiterate, it’s not outlawing the animals. It’s requiring the very basic step of not dumping them like trash — in this case, trash that can bite.
It isn’t “see you later, alligator.” It’s “take care of your crocodile or go away for a while.”
