After a man in the city of Florence was bitten by an inland taipan snake, the state house moved to introduce the South Carolina Venomous Reptiles Act.
Venomous snake keepers in South Carolina spoke at a hearing with lawmakers March 19 in an effort to state their case against a bill that would curtail their rights to keep venomous snakes. The group says House Bill 3937 is too extreme and goes too far and would not deter people from keeping venomous snakes, even if it becomes illegal to do so.
“Banning venomous snake ownership because of one act is as extreme as banning all dog ownership after an attack. It is an overreaction that’s going to punish those who have dedicated their lives to safe animal care and education,” Ryan LaPierre, owner of Out of the Ark Educational Animal Shows told WBTW News.
“Banning these animals will actually encourage more people to keep them clandestinely, and that could become more of a problem,’’ Justin Gosnell said in a news story from The State.
In the wake of a Florence, SC man who handled a venomous inland taipan snake without protection, the state house of South Carolina proposed last month, through House Bill 3937 or the “South Carolina Venomous Reptiles Act,” a ban on venomous reptile keeping without a permit. The bill would require anyone legally in possession of a venomous reptile to apply for a state permit. As written the bill would require several criteria to be met in order to keep a venomous reptile. The reptiles in question include “all members of the class Reptilia including their taxonomic successors, subspecies, or any hybrid thereof, regardless of surgical alteration, determined to have the potential to cause serious human injury due to the toxic effects of its venom or poison, and includes all venomous reptiles of the class Reptilia belonging to the families Elapidae, Crotalidae, Viperidae, and Hydrophiidae; all reptiles in the genus Heloderma; all reptiles in the family Colubridae belonging to the genera: Rhabdophis, Balanophis, Macropisthodon, Boiga, Dispholidus, Thelotornis, and Thrasops, and all reptiles in the family Atractaspididae.”
The inland taipan snake. Photo by Thorsten Spoerlein/Shuttertstock
The department may issue a permit for the lawful possession of a venomous reptile if the applicant:
(1) is at least eighteen years of age; and
(2) has never been convicted of a violation of any state or federal wildlife law where the penalty carries more than one year in prison or a fine of more than two thousand five hundred dollars within five years of the application.
(B) Any person in legal possession of a venomous reptile may keep possession of the venomous reptile for the remainder of the reptile’s life if, within ninety days of the effective date of this act, the possessor applies for and receives a permit from the department. The application must include the applicant’s name, address, telephone number, a complete inventory of each venomous reptile that the applicant possesses, the address where each venomous reptile is located, and the application fee of one hundred and fifty dollars.
(C) Permits issued for venomous reptiles are valid for three years and must be renewed prior to expiration. The renewal application fee is one hundred and fifty dollars, payable to the department. The application and fee must be received thirty days prior to the expiration of the prior permit.
(D) A permittee must notify the department promptly of any temporary or permanent change of location of a venomous reptile or of any other material changes to the application information.
(E) No new permits will be issued by the department after ninety days from the effective date of this act except as provided in subsection (G).
(F) The provisions of this section supersede the exception in Section 50-16-60(15) making the importation and sale of reptiles lawful, except as provided in this chapter.
(G) Notwithstanding another provision of this chapter, the department may issue a permit to the following after ensuring adequate facilities for humane handling, care, and confinement exist, ensuring public safety:
(1) any applicant for exhibition purposes. The exhibition must be a fixed facility that is open to the public for a time of no less than thirty hours per week for at least six months per year; and
(2) any applicant for bona fide research purposes, licensed medical or pharmaceutical facilities, institutions of higher learning, or other similar institutions at the department’s discretion.
(H) The department may set conditions of a permit.
(I) The department may allow the importation of venomous reptiles when permit requirements are met.
In addition, any venomous reptile keeper would be required to make their enclosures escape proof and the secondary containment area such (escape proof room or outbuilding) also be escape proof. The primary enclosure must be labeled “Venomous Reptile Inside” and must be escape proof, bite proof, and have a functioning lock.
The bill in its entirely can be read on the South Carolina State House website.
