When news broke last week that 21-year-old Orange County resident Ali Iyoob had been bitten by his “pet” King Cobra, I had three thoughts. Who has a pet King Cobra? Where does one find a King Cobra to keep as a pet? It can’t be legal to have a King Cobra in your house. Can it? The first question is obviously rhetorical. The answer to the second question is: the internet (of course). To answer the third question, I had to do a little research (on the internet, of course). It turns out that it was not lawful for Ali Iyoob, the unfortunate snake-bite-victim in this story, to keep a pet King Cobra in his house. But that’s only because he lived in Orange County. If he lived in Raleigh like me, it would be perfectly lawful for him to keep such a snake, so long as he appropriately labeled its enclosure. Say what? I’ve already visited realtor.com. (I don’t like snakes, not even the “good” kind.) Before all you reptile enthusiasts blast me with your incendiary comments, let me explain the law. State law. G.S. 14-417 makes it unlawful for a person to own, possess, use, transport, or traffic in any venomous reptile that is not housed in a sturdy and secure enclosure. It requires that the permanent enclosures for such reptiles be “designed to be escape-proof, bite-proof, and have an operable lock.” Containers that you carry these critters around in must likewise be “designed to be escape-proof and bite-proof.” [...]
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