Rabbits Against Building Code?

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boyopeg

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My apartment building was recently inscpected bythe City of Schenectady, NY. The building inspector informedus that our 2 dwarf rabbits are illegal. What should wedo? Has anyone else heard of rabbits being illegal?
 
Every municipality has different zoningregulations. Landlords may also place stipulations onpets. You'll need to contact your local city office orlandlordto find out what the zoning regulations for pets arein your area.

Pam
 
You will have to go to (or call) your local citycode enforcement to find out what laws are on the books for yourarea. We have local towns around me that classify rabbits asFarm Animals and we have other municipalities that classify them asExotics.Whenlocal laws forbidFarmanimals,they are illegal in residentialneighborhoods, that includes House Rabbits or back yardbunnies. (Most of the time, no one says anything.But if you have a neighbor with a beef against you, you could be introuble. I was told by a legislator that rabbitsareknown to bring rats to an area... REALLY!)

Sections of New York City defines rabbits as Exotics and forbidsthem... I know people who keep their buns in their apartments... butonly as long as they don't get caught...

JMHO, but seems a shame thatuneducated people make the laws that govern us...
 
I would definitely ask the local offices whythat is and go from their (it may be they need to be licensed, caged,not within city limits, not indoors, not within multiple familylistings(aka apartments), or a whole host of other reasons)
 
I live in Schenectady County, NY but I havenever heard of rabbits being illegal here. You should find out if yourlandlord knows about any laws that forbid rabbits in yourparticulararea andcall the townto findout their regulationsfor owning rabbits. Youneed tofind out exactly what laws you are breaking by having the rabbits. Onceyou know what you are doing wrong you canhopefully fix theproblem and keep your pets.

I live in a neighborhood of report happy psychos and everyone isreporting everyone for the stupidest things. I'm going to have to keepmy girls inside until I find out the regulations for my area. I'm notgoing to risk losing my rabbits because of some people with nothingbetter to do than cause problems for other people. New York has thecraziest laws.

Lissa
 
hamilton mecer county also has nutty laws aboutrabbits.my mom felling getting out of her lift chair nov 15 2004 brokeher left hip.i called 911 because i had surgery &couldn't lifther up.well the bums we have for cops came into the house saw mybunnies living in my livingroom.they got on the phone instead ofhelping the emts get my mom up. they called animalcontrol& health deartment on me & ordered all mybunnies even my cavies destroyed.because it was illegal tokeep rabbits in the house.which tured out to be a lie.my mom has haddr's nurses & even the dr who was incharge o the healthdepartment here because he was also an eye dr.no problem.itcost me almost & 1,000 dollars to board my kids for a weekuntil i got it fixed.i even had to take my cavies to the local cavylady who runs a piggy shelter.when i finally got my kids back thestress was so bad on my bunny chestnut i found her dead in her cage& my cavy velvetwho i saved her from beingsnake food 2 years before was having seizures then she died in my armswhen i was on the phone with the vets office.

so the dumb laws are every where.

take care

good luck

michelle
 
I have some really laid-back landlords who toldme to keep the rabbit, but they "don't know about it." Ithink it's against zoning regulations here in the OC, but I got lucky.
 
When we were renting I never disclosed that wehad bunnies. Probably the wrong thing to do, but thelandlords never found out. I don't think they would have hada problem with it. They seemed pretty laid back.Jason got into the lease before we got together. I would havenever rented a place that doesn't allow pets.
 
I would suspect the law is more about breedingand raising rabbits than having a pet. You might call cityhall and see what you can find out. Then if you need to youmay be able to get an exemption or the ordinance changed to allow pets.

Ed
 
I would also like to advise you to NOTgive out your name when you call about the particular municipalitylaws. Not sure about NY and rabbits, but there are placeswhere you can keep chickens as PETS as long as they don't go over acertain number or other things.

That said, check to see if the laws about rabbits say specifically NOrabbits at all or are there conditions placed on theirownership. Also see if you can get a variance (?) that willallow you to keep them.
 
Blue Giants, you are right about uneducatedpeople making laws. in Toronto pitbulls are now banned, and ourminister who created this province wide law could not even identifypitbulls in various pictures presented to him by a local newsreporter.(any pitbull pups born now are to be destroyed.)

Michelle- that was a horrible thing that happened to you and your babies, and i'm very sorry.

i believe various laws around the world need to be adjusted to presentday. i mean, not being able to keep a bunny as a pet cause it'sconsidered "exotic"? Gimmie a break, a pet rabbit isn't like having acrocodile or a lion inside your home.
 
I was able to check the laws for my town and Ifound nothing aboutowning rabbits. The only laws are aboutselling rabbits. Hopefully itwill be the same in yourtown. I really hope that building inspector was wrong aboutthe law.
 


Well seems the whole world over in some parts have twits making upsilly laws. Here in Oz in one state ( Queensland) it's illegal to haverabbits at all unless you have a permit.

Thank gawd I live in NSW or I'd be down that permit office telling them how stupid the laws are.

I agree with Jenniblu, don't under any circumstances give your name to anyone when enquiring about this.

I'd just say you are thinking of moving into that area and you wanted to know what if any laws are for that area.

Goodluck!!!



Michelle, that is ao awful, I would of been looking for an aplogy from those who where at fault for sure!!!
 
There are a lot of crazy laws out thereregarding animals. For example: Ferrets are legal in New Yorkstate, but illegal within New York City limits; you need a permit tohave ferrets in Illinois; they are totally illegal in California; mostreptiles are banned within San Francisco; in Miami Dade County youcan't have Pit Bulls. Here in PA, you cannot own any nativeanimals, hedgehogs, prairie dogs...BUT, you can have them if you hadthem before the law was passed.

I know that a lot of areas restrict ownership of animals that theyconsider farm animals. I would check into that aspect ofit. They may not consider rabbits to be regular householdpets.

As Jenniblu said, don't give your name.

Jen
 
This post has made me start to wonder if thereis a website that we would be able to check the local laws andordinances to see what is legal or illegal in the area that you livein. To me, it would make sense that the local HRS sites wouldat least have a link available but when I went there I could findnothing.



Anyone here know of a site that we would be able to check out?
 
hummer I did a quick google on thisand came up with this page , if you scroll down there is a Long list oflinks, I hope there may be something there to help you, sorry I have notime to read through it all myself at the moment as I am on my way outthe door to work.

Goodluck and I will read through it tonight whilst you lot are sleeping LOL

Ahh the joys of being and Aussie LOL:Australia:


http://www.megalaw.com/top/animal.php

Scroll down until you get to

Animal Rights and Pet Law Web Sites & Resources

 
For anyone in Toronto, here is the Toronto document regarding pets.

Nothing about rabbits except that you can't keep more than 6 unless youhave legal permission (I assume so you're not breeding and sellingwithout a proper rabbitry or something).

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_349.pdf


Funny... they had to specify that Elephants are a prohibited pet. hmm.

_________
Nadia
 
hummer wrote:
This post has made me start to wonder if there is a websitethat we would be able to check the local laws and ordinances to seewhat is legal or illegal in the area that you live in. To me,it would make sense that the local HRS sites would at least have a linkavailable but when I went there I could find nothing.



Anyone here know of a site that we would be able to check out?
Click to expand...


You'll find that many municipalities do have their zoning regulationslisted on line. My town does -- the document is over 100pages long -- easier to call the office LOL

We live in the heart of the business district, so are not zoned for anyagricultural or kennels of any kind -- however, our rabbitrywas established before the zoning laws were -- so we (and our manybunns) are grandfathered in.

Pam
 
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