Raleigh City Council member will propose restricting ownership of venomous snakes
The week after an escaped venomous spitting zebra cobra had much of Raleigh on edge, City Council member David Knight said he is working to propose an ordinance that would restrict ownership of dangerous animals in the city.
Knight represents District E in northwest Raleigh, where the great snake escape occurred, and where the snake’s owner, Christopher Gifford, resides.
Gifford’s social media presence has revealed that he keeps a large collection of deadly reptiles, including monocled cobras, rattlesnakes, Gaboon vipers and even a green mamba, which bit him in March, requiring antivenom from a South Carolina zoo.
The zebra cobra was reported outside a home in a neighborhood about a half-mile from Gifford’s home last Monday, June 28, and captured by Raleigh animal control officers on Wednesday evening.
Many questions for Raleigh police
The day before the snake’s capture, officers searched Gifford’s home and left with a large bucket. The police department has released no information on what was removed from Gifford’s home, on the circumstances of the zebra cobra’s escape nor on whether or not Gifford will face any charges.
North Carolina has no laws against keeping, breeding or selling non-native venomous reptiles, only rules about how those animals should be housed and transported (and about notifying local law enforcement if the animal escapes).
Local cities and counties may have rules against keeping dangerous wild animals, but Raleigh and Wake County currently have no such restrictions.
Knight told The News & Observer on Monday that he is working with the city’s legal staff right now to determine “the extent of our authority and jurisdiction to deal with this issue.”
“We’re looking at what other cities and states have done to see what the best practice for this type of regulation is, but I am going to propose something when we come back from our break (in August),” Knight said.
“That is what I’m hoping for — I’ve got to work with the mayor and the city manager, but the thought is to have a proposal draft ordinance or text change on the agenda for August and then have a public hearing, have a public conversation, and obviously, a council conversation around it, and move that forward ASAP, procedurally.”
What is a ‘wild dangerous animal’?
Knight said that he has heard from a lot of concerned constituents over the past week, and believes an ordinance restricting the keeping of dangerous animals will have support on the City Council.
“I think there will be support, the question is just how broad you make it in terms of what will be considered a dangerous animal,” Knight said.
“It’s not just ‘what is exotic,’ because what does ‘exotic’ really mean? It’s more about ‘what is a wild dangerous animal,’ and then the question of should people be able to have these things.”
Knight said that in his proposal, he will be “looking beyond just venomous snakes.”
Democratic state Sen. Jay Chaudhuri of Raleigh released a statement last week saying it’s time for the General Assembly to look at amending the state’s laws on venomous snakes.
Chaudhuri referenced a recent failed effort in South Carolina that would require owners of venomous snakes to register their current animals and prevent them from registering new ones, which would act as an eventual ban.
Nearby Orange County has a local law that makes it illegal to “keep, shelter, feed, harbor, or take care of any wild and dangerous animal” within the county, including reptiles which are poisonous, crushing or giant.
