Hamilton reptile zoo fighting to keep banned pythons

A Hamilton reptile zoo that takes banned snakes and reptiles off the citys hands is making another pitch to keep the animals.

The owner of Little Rays Reptile Zoo will head to city hall this month to ask for an amendment to the responsible pet ownership bylaw. Steve Featherstone wants to keep banned animals such as crocodiles and large pythons at his Barton Street East centre.

Featherstone and Paul Goulet, founder of the Little Rays franchise, asked the city for an exemption in September. But councillors made no move to stop the enforcement effort against the zoo.

The city has given Little Rays until Dec. 7 to get rid of its illegal animals. ButFeatherstone hopes to persuade the citys general issues committee to reconsider at the meeting Nov. 20.

We just want them to know were more of a solution than a problem, he said.

• Related:Large snakes at Hamilton reptile zoo must be gone by October, city says

Featherstonelooked into the legality of keeping the animals when he opened the zoo on June 8. But city staff, Goulet says, gave them conflicting advice on the process.

Many of the banned reptiles at Little Rays were once kept illegally by Hamiltonians, Featherstone said. Others came from a Hamilton pet store.

These banned animals already exist in Hamilton, he said. At least theyre being properly handled at Little Rays.

There are issues in the city whether Im here and operational or not, he said.

Featherstone has focused on inviting councillors to visit the zoo, which features permanent and traveling educational exhibits.

Coun. Scott Duvall of Ward 7 has visited and now plans to support Little Rays.

Seeing the site, he said, is different from getting an email saying They want to take my crocodiles away. This is nothing less than an education centre. Its very well done.

We actually send these reptiles to him that are actually forbidden. People get them as pets from somewhere else, theyre confiscated, and what do we do with them?

Among the animals banned by the city's responsible pet ownership bylaw that Little Ray's has in its Barton Street East shop are:

• A four-foot West African crocodile
• An American alligator
• A green anaconda
• A reticulated python
• A Burmese python

Councillors will vote on Featherstone's delegation request on Wednesday.