Over concerns from the Sheriff’s Office and the state Humane Society, the supervisors Nov. 24 passed an emergency measure amending the wild animal ordinance, but the temporary enactment appears to lack teeth.
Despite prior discussion at the Board of Supervisors’ Nov. 12 meeting, the stopgap measure unanimously accepted Tuesday night does not add certain primates to the list of animals permitted in Caroline County. Instead, it simply increases the amount of time a resident found in violation of the ordinance has to remove the wild or exotic animal from the county from 30 to 90 days.
The original 30-day period, the emergency ordinance states, “is too short and may cause a hardship to citizens of the County who own such animals and desire to comply with the ordinance.”
Besides granting relief to citizens affected by the wild animal ordinance, the Nov. 24 emergency amendment also bought the supervisors more time to consider whether a permanent amendment was prudent.
Speaking for county staff, assistant county administrator Alan Partin noted concern “about putting the ordinance together so quickly, within 12 days of the last discussion, and whether we’re doing a thorough job there.”
Notably, the emergency measure will kick a final decision on the matter down the road to the new Board that will take their seats Jan. 1.
The wild animal ordinance was passed this June in response to complaints by neighbors of Burruss Lane residents Sammy Johns and Mary Fineberg who had learned that the couple planned to add two cougars, two lynxes, a Bengal tiger and a Geoffroy’s cat to their current household of two monkeys and a mountain lion.
Johns and Fineberg subsequently left the county, and the issue died down until this October, when the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office responded to a false alarm at the Ladysmith residence of Belinda Hayes and saw that she had six primates.
Under the wild animal regulations passed in June, monkeys are classified as wild or exotic and are prohibited from being kept in Caroline. Hayes was given a Nov. 30 deadline to remove her pets from the county.
Hayes, however, argued Nov. 24 that the care of her primates “is no different than taking care of a dog or a cat.”
“My animals have never escaped, never bitten anyone, never gotten loose,” she said.
Her household is currently composed of a vervet, three brown lemurs and two capuchins, but she told the Board she has kept primates since moving to Caroline in December 1993 and that she would leave both her 24-year government job and her home before giving up her pets.
Both the CCSO and the Virginia Humane Society director Matthew Gray voiced strong opposition Nov. 24 to any amendment of the county’s current ordinance that would exempt primates from the prohibition.
In a staff report, the CCSO noted that primates pose public health and safety risks, and that exempting certain species or weight classes from regulations would require Animal Control to undergo extensive training to “learn how to physically handle primates safely” and to accurately weigh each animal encountered.
Gray was equally adamant, telling the Board, “They’re not safe to keep in homes as pets. They can transmit diseases. They can pose a real public safety risk regardless of their size.”
Furthermore, he argued, the Humane Society questions whether private citizens can provide the high levels of mental and physical stimulation that primates require for quality of life.
The conditions of Hayes’ animals came under fire Tuesday night by Western Caroline Supervisor Jeff Black, who called them “deplorable.”
At his request, Animal Control Sgt. Julie Heffler reported that when the CCSO discovered the primates, “the cages that were seen were not clean” and that “there was a lot of urine and feces.”
However, Heffler and county building official Kevin Wightman reported, subsequent visits found that Hayes had quickly taken remedial action to update other animals’ vaccines, clean the primates’ cages and cover existing holes in the floors of the room where certain animals were kept.
Urging the Board to extend the time granted Hayes to make provisions for her animals, Madison Supervisor Wayne Acors dismissed the idea that “the next 60 days are going to make a difference, that these primates are going to become so dangerous [that] the people of Caroline County are going to be endangered.”
Across the board, the supervisors appeared reluctant to amend the substance of the ordinance that night—with Reedy Church Supervisor Reggie Underwood flatly stating at one point, “I do not want to change the ordinance”—but also uneasy about the effect enforcement would have on Hayes.
“This lady has a home,” said Acors. “She’s been here since ’93, and it’s not easy to get up and just move.”
Acknowledging the need for compassion, Chairman Calvin Taylor struck a more cautious note, saying, “I’m not sure that her animals are a threat, but I’m afraid if we pass this ordinance, we may be inviting other persons whose situations may not be the same.”
The tone of the discussion was in marked contrast to the attitude taken toward Johns and Fineberg this past May and June. At two different meetings on that pair’s situation, Underwood told them, “Sometimes the rights of one have to be abeyed so that the rights of many can be protected,” and Mattaponi Supervisor Floyd Thomas declared, “We have to err on the side of caution.”
Still, despite the supervisors’ more sympathetic attitude and the additional time granted her by the emergency ordinance, Hayes appeared deflated at the Nov. 24 meeting.
“I’m getting the impression I’m going to have to leave the state of Virginia,” she said. “Staying in Virginia’s not going to be a good thing for me.”
By CP Reporter Sarah Vogelsong
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