The new Oregon law that will outlaw certain exotic pets is being applauded by animal protection organizations that lobbied for the legislation, while one exotic pet owner questioned the need for the new restrictions.

“We’re thrilled. This has been a priority for us for several years,” said Scott Beckstead, Oregon state director for the Humane Society of the United States.

Beckstead said that he’d been working hard all legislative session along with other animal rights organizations to get lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 391, which bans private possession of certain wild animals including wild cats, wolves, foxes, coyotes, bears, primates, alligators and crocodiles. The new law goes into effect on Jan. 1.

“These animals really don’t belong in the hands of people who don’t know how to care for them,” he said.

Many people who get an exotic pet, he said, think it’s cute. Such animals can easily be ordered online, but then they grow up and become unmanageable. Then the owner tries to give the animal to a zoo, which usually does not have room, or a local Humane Society, he said.

Exotic pets also pose a public safety issue if they escape because they can cause serious injury if they attack, he said.

“I think (the bill) could have been a lot stronger, but it does outlaw a couple of very dangerous animals,” said Sharon Harmon, executive director of the Oregon Humane Society.

One of those, she said, is the chimpanzee. Once a chimp reaches puberty, it becomes a very dangerous animal.

Before the bill was passed, exotic pet owners were required to have a permit from the state to own the animal, but now if someone wants to own an exotic animal they’ll need to get a U.S. Department of Agriculture permit.

The permit is much harder to obtain and has specific requirements regarding the care of the animal, said Beckstead.

People who already own exotic pets that will be outlawed are exempt from the new law, but most will no longer be allowed to breed their exotic pets or obtain new ones. The law allows a couple of exceptions, such as breeding small wild cats with domestic cats.

Darby Campbell, a Bend resident who owns a serval, a small African wild cat that looks like a cheetah, is on the fence about the new law.

On the one hand, she’s glad that exotic animal breeders and owners who weren’t properly taking care of their animals won’t be able to continue getting them, but on the other she doesn’t like being told by the government what to do, especially because she says she’s been a responsible exotic pet owner.

“It really hurts the people who are following the rules,” she said.

She’s had her 9-year-old serval, named Nairobi, since it was a kitten and doesn’t feel that Nairobi is dangerous at all. She’s glad that she was able to get the serval before the bill passed.

“I love her,” she said. “She’s my baby.”

Still, Campbell understands that it takes a lot of dedication to care for a wild cat like Nairobi. She has to watch her cat’s diet very carefully and keep her in a special cage.

It wasn’t as though she could just go and buy Nairobi from a breeder and be done with it, which is one reason she doesn’t see the need for the bill.

Campbell had to pay for a permit to own Nairobi, who was required to pass an inspection.

“(The state) just needed to follow through with the system that they had in place. I thought it was working just fine,” she said.

Nicole Paquette, senior vice president of the national animal advocacy organization Born Free USA, which also lobbied for the bill, said wild animals shouldn’t be kept as pets because the average person isn’t equipped to take care of them. And that means the animal suffers.

Exotic animals kept as pets, she said, are often defanged and declawed, usually to the detriment of the animal.

Many exotic pets don’t make it to adulthood, said Harmon of the Oregon Humane Society, because they require so much special care, and as a result they end up suffering and dying from malnutrition or other afflictions.

“They end up dying slow, pathetic deaths for someone to have bragging rights,” she said.

Furthermore, she said, people send their domestic cats and dogs to animal shelters all the time because they cannot care for them. So she doesn’t see why anyone would want to care for a chimpanzee or a crocodile, taking into account all the extra care they require.

“Let’s adopt all our dogs and cats before we expand to other captive animals,” she said.

Banned pets

A new law that takes effect Jan. 1 will outlaw the possession and breeding of exotic animals including:

• Wild cats

• Wolves

• Primates

• Coyotes that are not native to Oregon

• Foxes that are not native to Oregon

• Jackals

• Bears, except black bears

• Crocodiles

• Alligators