Snake breeder has business shut down by ignorant neighbors

http://watchdog.org/160321/snakes-in-ames/

Ugh....some people! :mad: Dumb and Dumber...the true story!

Can he GIVE his snakes away? He can sell a ball point pen for $650, along with a free pied ball python. :P

Wow people are dumb. He is completely within his right to own, breed and sell. They should have gave him the permit.

Looks like he needed the zoning board to approve a commercial permit for a home-based business. He doesn't need permission from the locality to breed snakes as a hobby. Any animals he wanted to sell could be consigned with someone else, taken to an expo, advertised on CL "for a small rehoming fee", etc.

As long as there's minimal walk-up traffic to his home - and most breeders don't care to have strangers in their homes anyway - the neighbors won't have a clue that anything is going on.

Wait until they find out he owns a gun. People are stupid.

Ridiculous. Beyond that I'm speechless by the idiocy of his neighbors.

Wow, Ames is only an hour and a half drive's away from me. Can't say I'm surprised, from what I've seen so far Iowa is a crappy state for snake owners to live in.

Funny thing - retics, anacondas, and African rock pythons are illegal to own in the state but burms are not.

edit - Ugh some of those article comments

How did they even find out he was selling? How the heck did they just find his website?

He applied for a permit and as part of the permit process a number of neighbors were alerted. The fact that they thought they stopping him from having a legit business would somehow 'keep them safe' from snakes is ridiculous.

The power of ignorance and fear is amazing. :slamhead:

If I were him, I would go door to door with plates of cookies, and personally thank each and every neighbor. I would present them with the cookies and say, " Thank you very much for ensuring my beloved snake collection can now grow as large as I like. How very thoughtful of you to help."

Gale

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marrissa

How did they even find out he was selling? How the heck did they just find his website?

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In most localities part of the process to legally run any home-based business is to get a zoning variance for it, as commercial activity typically isn't allowed in residential areas. Usually when people apply it's because they often need other licensing (e.g. day cares, hair stylists, federal firearm licensees, etc) that won't be granted until the locality signs off on the business; housewives selling Mary Kay or Scentsy, or people who scour garage sales on the weekend looking for stuff to flip on eBay, typically don't bother, and since there's little or no walk-up traffic to the home the neighbors usually don't have a clue, or they don't care.

So, the guy in this story tried to set himself up legally to run a business, and applied for his variance. When that happens the county notifies neighbors within a certain distance of the home so they can voice their concerns. The county is supposed to look at those concerns as it relates to the business activity, whether it's increased traffic flow, noise, signage, potential for noxious odors/dumping, etc. ZOMG HE HAS SNAKES should not have been a consideration.

As I said, he can still breed and even sell his snakes, as long the animals are consigned or brokered by someone else and his snake-breeding operation remains a hobby. He just can't set himself up as a business.

Ah. For some reason I thought they found out he was selling online then told him he needed the license. Brain fart. Hmm stories like this don't exactly encourage people to take the legal route.


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Don't even bother reading the comments, they're disgustingly ignorant.