Question for those in Oakville, ONT.

[NomiGold]

I hope this is the appropriate place to ask this. I was curious if there was anyone out there familiar with Oakville bylaws concerning owning ball pythons, as I will be moving there soon. I was researching the bylaws to see if they had anything on owning Hognose snakes, but instead found a bylaw that seemed to ban owning any python species. (And 'Poisonous Colubrid Species' which may or may not include hognoses).

Heres the bylaw I found:

http://www.oakville.ca/bylaws.htm

(in case the link does not bring you there, the bylaw number is 1976-153)

As you can see, it prohibits the owning of boas and pythons (it was amended to allow geckos and iguanas). It makes no distinction between species of pythons.

Now this bylaw is quite old (from the 70's), and even the amendments date back to 1990 and 1995. Is there any more recent amendment or new bylaw regarding the owning of ball pythons in Oakville? Am I looking in the wrong place? Anyone in or around Oakville know the deal with this?

[snakeman13]

I know a few people that live in Oakville,
they keep, breed and sell ball Pythons.I don't believe they band.

[PixieMaple]

I live in Burlington (next to Oakville) and I know people there who keep snakes, including balls

[NomiGold]

Thank you both. It would be such a bummer to be moving so close to the Canadian Reptile Breeders Expo and have Ball Pythons of all things be banned!

[PixieMaple]

that would indeed be a bummer!
I am excited, excited, EXCITEDDDDD for the expo in.. November? I think it's in Nov..

[mykee]

I feel the need to chime in here: just because people keep, breed and sell animals in Oakville DOES NOT mean that they are not illegal to own and can come with a healthy fine and can lead to forced removal of the offending species.
If the bylaw says all boas and pythons, that means ALL boas and pythons unless otherwise stated.

Clearly states; that unless you are one of the following, and own any of the animals in said list (all pythons and boas are included in that list BTW) you can be liable for a fine of up to $1000.

"(a) In a v e t e r i n a r y h o s p i t a l u n d e r t h e care of a
l i c e n s e d v e t e r i n a r i a n .
(b) In a p u b l i c p o u n d .
(c) By The Ontario Humane Society.
(d) By The Oakville and District Humane S o c i e t y .
3. Any p e r s o n c o n v i c t e d of a n o f f e n c e u n d e r t h i s by-law
shall be liable to a f i n e n o t e x c e e d i n g $1,000.00,
e x c l u s i v e of costs."

[NomiGold]

I feel the need to chime in here: just because people keep, breed and sell animals in Oakville DOES NOT mean that they are not illegal to own and can come with a healthy fine and can lead to forced removal of the offending species.
If the bylaw says all boas and pythons, that means ALL boas and pythons unless otherwise stated.

Clearly states; that unless you are one of the following, and own any of the animals in said list (all pythons and boas are included in that list BTW) you can be liable for a fine of up to $1000.

"(a) In a v e t e r i n a r y h o s p i t a l u n d e r t h e care of a
l i c e n s e d v e t e r i n a r i a n .
(b) In a p u b l i c p o u n d .
(c) By The Ontario Humane Society.
(d) By The Oakville and District Humane S o c i e t y .
3. Any p e r s o n c o n v i c t e d of a n o f f e n c e u n d e r t h i s by-law
shall be liable to a f i n e n o t e x c e e d i n g $1,000.00,
e x c l u s i v e of costs."

That is exactly what concerned me, and so I posted it here. However, this bylaw is from the 1970's. It just seems quite odd to me to simply state 'pythons' instead of 'all pythons' or give a list of the targeted species. Do you think it would be worth it to phone someone and ask? Where does one phone to get information on a bylaw?

[mykee]

In most cases, bylaws that have not needed to be re-opened remain the same as when they were first issued.
Again, sorry for sounding so harsh, but I realized that your question was in reference to legality and all you got was folks telling you that their cousins roommates friend lives in Oakville and owns a python, so they MUST be ok to own.
Good for you to do some research prior to moving.

[NomiGold]

In most cases, bylaws that have not needed to be re-opened remain the same as when they were first issued.
Again, sorry for sounding so harsh, but I realized that your question was in reference to legality and all you got was folks telling you that their cousins roommates friend lives in Oakville and owns a python, so they MUST be ok to own.
Good for you to do some research prior to moving.

I don't think you are sounding harsh. Thank you for being honest!

I think you may be right. In that case, it sucks, but when it comes down to ball pythons vs the school I want, well, school is going to come out on top. I still think I may e-mail or phone someone to ask about the bylaw, once I figure out who to contact, of course. Should be easy enough to find out.