Decatur GA - Wild Animal Permit?

[Samong]

I have not moved there yet, but it's high on my list of possible towns. I have found a single Decatur ordinance that says that any wild, exotic, or nondomesticated animal requires a wild animal permit to keep through the police department. Well guess what? There's literally no other information online and people thus far have no idea where to send me when I call around for info.

So. Has anyone ever lived in Decatur with reptiles? Did you get a wild animal permit? Will anyone have any clue what I'm even talking about if I go down to the police department myself? I mean all I have are quite standard harmless (And legal) reptiles that can be found at any Petco or Petsmart. I want to obey the law if I move there, but I can only go so far when I ring the police department (as per the ordinance text) and they don't have a clue.

[DVirginiana]

You could always call any petstores in the town and ask. Since they're selling to the public, they'd probably have to either have one or know about them.

FYI: I've known people from other forums that moved to GA, and apparently their rules on keeping native species there are super strict! If you have anything like a corn/king/garter (assuming you're not already living in GA lol) you might want to check on that as well.

[Samong]

Ok, I'll give some of the nearby petstores a call. I've already done a huge amount of phone tag and legwork on the native reptiles thing; none of mine are native and I have confirmed all the nitty gritty details (Like are they banned at the genus, species, or subspecies levels? Subspecies for nonvenomous.). That was a bit of a sting to my future plans, but none of the animals I hold now (and will hold later) are native to GA.

PS:

Just called the Decatur Petco; they don't sell reptiles at that location but many others in the area do. The person we spoke with had NEVER heard of ordinances against reptiles as pets without a permit. I also have not moved yet; that will be either late June or late July. I'll see if I can find more pet stores in Decatur. It's tough because these towns run together, so there can be a big box pet store nearby selling live reptiles but they're technically in another city.

[DVirginiana]

Glad you won't have to give up any of your animals!

Haha, yeah my area is kind of similar with city/town lines just running into each other. Hopefully you won't have too many hoops to jump through for something as harmless as a BP though.

[ER12]

If you aren't able to get an answer from the police dept or city clerk's office, I would try contacting the city manager, administrator, or other similar higher up. This link may be helpful:
http://www.decaturga.com/index.aspx?page=127

[EL-Ziggy]

I live in GA but not Decatur and I've never heard of a wildlife permit being required. Like others have said you just have to make sure you're not keeping native species. I can keep my Cal King but can't keep an Eastern King. It sounds like you've asked all the right people and if no one can show/tell you how to obtain this mysterious permit I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe it's an outdated statute. Can you post a link?

[Samong]

I spoke with Justyne Lobello who is the marketing director of the Georgia Reptile Society. She very kindly did a lot of digging for me and has also offered to call the police department on behalf of the society for more info, which I haven't taken her up on but may yet. The definitions of animals in the codes contradicts ordinance 14-42, so while I was nervous before I felt a little better while waiting to hear from the GRS. What Ms. Lobello found was that the statute was made in the 1960s and was one of those ridiculous forgotten about laws that has since been contradicted and unenforced. Kind of like these silly, outdated, and not reinforced laws also in the state (click link).Many large collections are housed in Decatur and they had never heard of this ordinance. Her bet was that if the police department there is called (Since they are vested with the authority to issue the permit) they wouldn't have a clue what was being talked about. She also told me that if on some miniscule chance the city wanted to make an issue of it that the GRS would back me up.

This is where it all started; a collection of Decatur city ordinance: https://www.municode.com/library/ga/..._of_ordinances

This is the specific Sec. 14-42 ordinance being asked about (the police authority note is 14-43 below): https://www.municode.com/library/ga/...S14-42WIANERRE

So lol, as soon as we ARE moved I know I'm paying my society dues.