There are three aspects that I question from the article I read. One is that the city ordinance banned boas and pythons in 2010. The article was written in 2012. It says that Nellis believes he should have been grandfathered in, but doesn't say whether or not he came forward with his concerns in 2010. The article makes it seem like he was "outed" by a smell complaint and in retrospect thinks that he should be allowed to continue. At the very least, I would hope he voiced his opinion when the ordinance was being established.

Second is the citations. It seems like the biggest concerns (aside from the ordinance itself) were safety related - specifically air quality and fire safety. 300 animals is a lot of heat tape and waste. I'm not sure if he included rodents in that number, but mice smell all day every day even when you're on top of cleaning, and who knows how many particles of bedding and waste are flying around, or what the ventilation is like in his garage. If a neighbor could smell it, that's a bit concerning. I don't breed rats or mice - can someone who does weigh in on this? Then there's the fire safety. Thermostats help, but not when there are six outlet strips and however many thermostats hooked up to one wall outlet. Not saying this is the case, but it's a possibility. Is the house designed to support that set up in a way that meets regulations?

Finally there's the business vs. hobby debate. That many animals (let's say there are 100 snakes) is not the same as having maybe 30 on occasion with a clutch or two a year. There were debates in another thread about this regarding how to report breeding for taxes. If he was profiting from this "hobby" x amount of times in a certain number of years (I think it's something like 3 or 4 times in a 5 year span), it's considered a business and should be reported/taxed as such. If it is a business, that opens you up to the areas business laws. Maybe all businesses need permits to sit in residential areas in Coon Rapids. I don't know those laws, but personally I would find out if I was getting to the point of profiting more often than not.

I feel for the guy, and I would hate to be in that position. But I just don't know from the article whether or not he was proactive about protecting himself, or is looking for loopholes reactively now that he's been caught.

Moral of the story, for me at least, is that if people want to educate others on animals with a bad reputation, they can't have a bad reputation themselves. I'm sure Nellis isn't a bad guy, and I have faith that he is taking care of his collection, but he's in a posi stand tion where he doesn't have ground to on, and it might have been avoided if steps were taken in 2009/2010.

There was a woman who had a decent reptile collection who had to move back to Florida from the Carolinas because of similar issues. But to her credit, she got involved with the HOA and IIRC even the mayor. She didn't win her case, but she did educate a few people along the way. Ultimately, everyone involved in fringe hobbies like exotics must keep themselves informed and manage the risks.

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