GliderCENTRAL

Fairfax county Va

Posted By: Anonymous

Fairfax county Va - 07/21/09 07:43 PM

So I went to the pet store back when Rocco was still 9 weeks old and asked if they carried sugar glider food (back when I feed pellets) but they didn't. The girl there who used to own sugar gliders said to her knowledge it was illegal to buy or sell sugar gliders in Fairfax county Virginia. Does anyone know about this? I read somewhere on this forum that sugar gliders are legal in Va but in Fairfax county it IS legal to have them, just not buy or sell them.



P.S.: The info about whether it was legal was on an angelfire site. It was in a link from the permanent post about state restrictions.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/21/09 08:12 PM

Gliders are legal in most Cities and Counties in Virginia... but most of Northern VA it's illegal to own them, not just buy or sell.. Here's the law written..

"No person shall keep or permit to be kept on his premises any wild or exotic animal as a "pet." Wild or exotic animal means any live non-human primate, raccoon, skunk, wolf, squirrel, fox, leopard, panther, tiger, lion, lynx, or any other warm-blooded animals, poisonous snake, and members of the crocodilian family. "

Illegal... Chesterfield Co, Fairfax Co, City of Manassas, Newport News, Prince William Co, and Spotsylvania County.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/21/09 08:31 PM

http://www.bornfreeusa.org/b4a2_exotic_animals_ords.php



Virginia

•Arlington – No person may possess venomous snakes within city limits.

•Chesterfield – No person shall keep or permit to be kept on his premises any wild or exotic animal as a "pet." A wild or exotic animal means any monkey, lion, tiger, wolf, or any warm-blooded mammal, poisonous snake, tarantula, other poisonous animal normally found in the wild, or any member of the crocidillian family.

•Fairfax County – No person shall keep or permit to be kept on his premises any wild or exotic animal as a "pet." Wild or exotic animal means any live non-human primate, raccoon, skunk, wolf, squirrel, fox, leopard, panther, tiger, lion, lynx, or any other warm-blooded animals, poisonous snake, and members of the crocodilian family.

•Fredericksburg – It is unlawful for any person to bring into or keep any wild or dangerous animal within city limits. Wild animal shall mean any raccoon, skunk, wolf, wolf-hybrid, squirrel, fox, prairie dog or other similar warm-blooded animal susceptible to rabies.

•Manassas – No person may possess any wild or exotic animal within city limits. Wild or exotic animal means any vertebrate, wild creature and any poisonous invertebrate.

•Manassas Park – No person may possess venomous snakes within city limits.

•Newport News – It is unlawful for any person to keep any nondomestic animal or animals farae naturae as a "pet" within city limits. The term ferae naturae shall mean animals which by nature, are wild.

•Portsmouth – It is unlawful for any person to keep within city limits any elephant, bear, leopard, lion, wolf, or any dangerous or carnivorous wild animal, or any dangerous or poisonous reptiles or serpents.

•Prince William County – No person may possess venomous snakes within city limits.

•Spotsylvania County – No person shall keep or permit to be kept any wild, exotic, or vicious animal. Wild or exotic animal means any live non-human primate, raccoon, skunk, wolf, squirrel, fox, leopard, panther, tiger, lion, lynx, or any other warm-blooded animals, poisonous snake, and members of the crocodilian family.

•Stafford – No person may possess exotic reptiles within city limits. Exotic reptile means any poisonous snake not native to Virginia.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/21/09 08:42 PM

So "farae naturae" is meaning?



Main Entry:fe·rae na·tu·rae
Function:adjective
Etymology:Latin, of a wild nature
Date:circa 1661


: wild by nature and not usually tamed


So are our gliders wild or tame?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/21/09 09:02 PM

•Prince William County – No person may possess venomous snakes within city limits.

My USDA said they are illegal in PW... I'll need to double check!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/21/09 09:03 PM

Yes "farae naturae" includes gliders frown
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/21/09 09:29 PM

Interesting enough.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/22/09 07:24 AM

That is interesting because Pocket Pets was selling gliders at Celebrate Fairfax festival..... hmmm. This is a little bizzare.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/17/10 02:41 AM

noooo!! and i was soo ready to get my pair of gliders!
i've been getting ready to get them from a breeder in fredricksburg and ugh! to hear this?! it's so unfair!
and by the way, where does potomic mills mall fit into this? i've heard from multiple accounts that there was a stand selling gliders there! tant cry
Posted By: TheGliderPlayroom

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/17/10 03:18 AM

Originally Posted By: Aleera
That is interesting because Pocket Pets was selling gliders at Celebrate Fairfax festival..... hmmm. This is a little bizzare.


They have also sold them in PA, and they are illegal in the entire state. They don't care, as long as they make their money. shakehead
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/17/10 04:47 PM

Yep..they can sell there all they want but look around, because they are supposed to have a sign up that states where they are illegal in that particular state.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/17/10 05:51 PM

Just to clarify that gliders are not illegal in Newport News Virginia. I know numerous people that own them in Newport News. In Newport News they don't want you taking an animal from the wild there and keeping it as a pet. Every place has different meaning to their "rules". If you have any doubts or questions about an area's "rules" then you should contact them about it and have them explain in detail what they mean.
Posted By: Ikeda

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/17/10 06:06 PM

Anyone notice by the laws mentioned above there could be a case made that dogs and cats are EQUALLY prohibitted? "Warm-blooded mammals" haha! Just like I could equally argue all dogs are exotic as they are not naturally occuring (minus a few wolf breeds). Let's be honest... who cares... Whatever happens in your house happens. Just be sure you have access to food and a vet and you should be ok.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/17/10 06:53 PM

Unfortunatly it's true. Because they don't make the laws/rules very specific they can be interpreted in a number of different ways. I also think some places are a little too strict with their laws/rules. But like I said, if you are confused you should do more research and or ask.
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/17/10 07:35 PM

Originally Posted By: Ikeda
Anyone notice by the laws mentioned above there could be a case made that dogs and cats are EQUALLY prohibitted? "Warm-blooded mammals" haha! Just like I could equally argue all dogs are exotic as they are not naturally occuring (minus a few wolf breeds). Let's be honest... who cares... Whatever happens in your house happens. Just be sure you have access to food and a vet and you should be ok.


Actually, depending on your area, you have to care. In Fairfax, they are very rigid and you'll find yourself in a lot of trouble if you are found in possession of a glider. People are found out more often than you know. You'd be amazed at how many people care about this sort of thing and turn people in, only because they believe in the letter of the law when it comes to animals. A vet (sadly) can refuse treatment if you are found to be in violation of these laws so not only do you not get your glider treated, they are bound by law to turn you in so they'll take your glider away. Just saying...it does matter a little more than "whatever happens in your home happens"...I've seen people go through heartbreak and would hate for it to happen to others, as well.
Posted By: Ikeda

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/17/10 09:05 PM



Sorry Aimee. We have enough problems in the world without people getting involved in my own personal business. I get it though. People need to KNOW what they're getting involved with but I would fight tooth and nail over it. I'm just pig-headed like that.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/18/10 01:31 AM

this is so sad to hear upset i wanted to get my pair of gliders soon too... is there any way around this. i'll guess not. but what could possibly make fairfax county have a law like this?
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/18/10 01:45 AM

No worries, Ike...I know better than to mess with you and little Rocky! LOL

nicnic...I'm sorry, but yes, they are the rules. I'm not sure why Fairfax county has them but they've been established for a long time. No one can tell you that you can't get them, but it can mean serious consequences if you're caught either having them or lying about them. :-( I hate this for people. I'm doing some research into who I can speak with to see if there's any way of getting this changed.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/18/10 01:56 AM

sigh, alright. well thank you. if there's any change, please send me a message. thanks!
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/18/10 11:54 AM

I can only assume that you're right in Fairfax?
Posted By: GliderGuyVA

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/18/10 01:51 PM

Yes they are illegal in Fairfax County but out of state/county residents can sell them in Fairfax County. The law can be interpeted in many ways so if you live in Fairfax County you need to keep your Gliders under wraps.

I have talked to several County employee's at the shelter/animal control and they do not see many Gliders. When they do receive surrendered Gliders they send them to Loudon County or some other county. They will not uthenize them!

Many people own them in Fairfax County and the Animal Control Officers know about it but do not persue it unless someone calls and complains about your pets. They still have to get a search warrant since they are part of the police dept.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/18/10 04:24 PM

that is really tough to hear... and yes i do live in fairfax. i hope this can be changed..
Posted By: GliderGuyVA

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/18/10 06:42 PM

Originally Posted By: nicnic63
that is really tough to hear... and yes i do live in fairfax. i hope this can be changed..

Don't count on it. I do not recomend that you break the law and purchase Gliders. With that being said it's not like they are going from house to house looking for lawbreaking suggie lovers. I'm sure some will get on here and say otherwise but if you should come across some suggies just be sure to keep them out of the public eye.

The law can be interpeted many ways so just be careful and think long and hard before you decide to get your suggies.
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/18/10 10:45 PM

GliderGuy, I completely agree with you. I think there are just too many variables here. No, they aren't going to go house to house...but it only takes one time, one person, to mess things up and cause big problems and heartache. I can't imagine having my gliders, bonding, then having a neighbor that wants to be a jerk turn me in and have to re-home them. My heart couldn't take that, nor could my checkbook!
Posted By: TheGliderPlayroom

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/18/10 11:11 PM

People get turned in over the smallest, oddest things. I've heard of one person whose granddaughter mentioned at the grocery store that they were buying food to feed their sugar gliders, and they ended up losing the gliders over it.

My point is, unless you are a fully self-supported loner who lives under a rock, needs absolutely nothing from the outside world, and talks to absolutely no one, you can NEVER be 100% safe from losing your babies while breaking the law. It just isn't worth the risk. The gliders deserve better treatment than that.
Posted By: Feather

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/19/10 12:46 AM

What you can do is put getting your gliders on hold and start writing letters to the county board of directors and work on getting the laws changed to exclude sugar gliders.

Educate them about sugar gliders. Get reliable information to present to them. Get them to discuss it at a board meeting and go there and present your case with reliable facts.

It is possible that you could get them to amend the law to exclude sugar gliders. Specially if they know that they would not survive a winter in your state.

You can also get people to sign a petition to change the law, just make sure that the people who sign your petition do not have gliders at the time or you will be giving them a hunting list to go after those people.

Good Luck,
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/19/10 12:54 AM

Thanks, Kimberley - Gliders are legal here in Arlington but Fairfax is literally just down the road from me. I've begun assisting the Animal Welfare League here in Arlington as a glider resource (they occasionally have them surrendered to the shelter) and they have given me some info, as well, to try to work on this.
Posted By: Feather

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/19/10 01:13 AM

Wisconsin is legal for sugar gliders, but the city of Madison has them as illegal. They have a blanket ordinance that states all marsupials. As I don't live in the city of Madison it isn't a problem for me.

Animal control has stated that they don't go looking for them, but if they are called in for something else they will give you 30 days to rehome them.

I have considered writing to the city directors and educating them to get sugar gliders exempted from that ordinance. They put it in place because they didn't want people getting wallabies and other large marsupials. Several years ago a wallaby had gotten loose and was on the lam for several days. So they put in a blanket ordinance.

Educating the board of directors is the thing to do. Most of the time when they come up with an ordinance like that they don't want to get to involved in it so they just make it a blanket/generic ordinance by saying all marsupials.....
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/19/10 01:20 AM

Thank you! I'm going to get more research together and see what I can do. I've not looked into it but have been wanting to do this for some time. I'd love to talk with you more if you do decide to write to them and maybe share some information!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 07/19/10 03:20 AM

That's great to hear!
let's hope we can make something out of this and try to find more people to sign a petition or find some good, stone-cold facts clap
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 10/10/10 01:08 AM

I know this topic has not been commented on in some time, but i live in Fairfax County and have been trying to find some information for a while on this subject as i don't want to care for a glider illegally. The facts seem to be that Sugar Gliders fall into a loophole that seems to be overlooked in these exotic pet laws. They either are just generically grouped in with owning Squirrels, of which they are not, or are just grouped as a non native warm blooded animal. I've printed out all the laws and documentation i can both from Virginia and from Fairfax County and it seems that although Fairfax County says they do NOT supersede the laws of Virginia on exotic pets, they are meant to compliment them, leads me to believe that they just have no information and have blindly just deemed them illegal. They pose no threat to the environment as far as overpopulation or predatory aspects. They are actually more at risk to themselves than to any other human or animal is concerned.

My main question is it possible to acquire a permit to care for suggies, or if anyone would like to move forward with legitimate information during some of the next animal health county meeting to see if we cannot educate this issue? I plan on calling on monday to some local authorities, but was wondering if anyone has further investigated this issue since last post.
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 10/10/10 01:23 AM

My understanding is that, at this time, it is NOT possible to acquire a permit for suggies in Fairfax County.

I have been doing my homework and trying to make some steps forward and so far, have been met by resistance. I would be more than willing to move forward with an attempt to help this along.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 10/11/10 05:45 AM

Well since monday is a holiday i don't know if i will be able to get in contact with the important branches, but as i find information during the week i will let you know and if possible i will try to move forward with this issue.

Thanks.
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 10/11/10 12:15 PM

Sounds good!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 01/15/11 03:09 PM

Honestly, I do not think they enforce the laws on the books on owning sugar gliders in Farifax county, unless somebody calls and makes a complaint.

There is in fact an Exotic Animal vet in Fairfax City, and we have taken our gliders there before without any problems. They told us they do see some gliders from time to time, albeit rarely.

Then again you never know, so I can't say for certain.

There are alot of small municipalities in the area that may have different laws then fairfax county, (ie. the town of Vienna, Falls Church, Arligton, etc) so i don't know if the Fairfax laws apply to those towns or not. Although in Arlington I believe someone mentioned they are legal.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 03/27/11 06:42 PM

Im in Fairfax aswell
im going to find somone out of county ( i have a few friends with them) and bring in a sugar glider to the Fairfax board of supervisers to get the law changed!
For a county whos name has FAIR in it, it has some pretty UNfair laws.
I am also e-mailing them and sending them letters. It would be great if you all would too and have your friends send them emails or letters too.

FIGHT THE POWER!!!
MIKA&CRYSTAL!!! (my soon to be gliders)
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 03/27/11 06:46 PM

Help me save gliders lives AND make them legal in Fairfax county VA

if we all send in emails and letters and also make movments at meetings im sure we can make them change the law!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 03/27/11 06:47 PM

WE used to take our guinea pig and now take our dog to an exotic vet in Fairfax county and im almost posative they would do vet work on them
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 03/27/11 07:14 PM

Originally Posted By: MJ111
Honestly, I do not think they enforce the laws on the books on owning sugar gliders in Farifax county, unless somebody calls and makes a complaint.

There is in fact an Exotic Animal vet in Fairfax City, and we have taken our gliders there before without any problems. They told us they do see some gliders from time to time, albeit rarely.

Then again you never know, so I can't say for certain.

There are alot of small municipalities in the area that may have different laws then fairfax county, (ie. the town of Vienna, Falls Church, Arligton, etc) so i don't know if the Fairfax laws apply to those towns or not. Although in Arlington I believe someone mentioned they are legal.


They ARE legal in Arlington. Exotic animals are illegal in Fairfax county and if found, they will be confiscated and unfortunately, euthanized. Just not a chance I'd take.

Originally Posted By: pokohorse
WE used to take our guinea pig and now take our dog to an exotic vet in Fairfax county and im almost posative they would do vet work on them


Treating animals in Fairfax County is one thing, owning them is another. I am from Arlington but my vet is in Fairfax. Yes, they will treat gliders but they are required by law, with knowledge of gliders owned in the county, to report this information.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 03/27/11 11:32 PM

oh well
im just going to work 2x as hard to make them legal
Posted By: DCMuffin

Re: Fairfax county Va - 03/27/11 11:32 PM

I admire that and think you should do what you can to make this happen. smile
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 03/27/11 11:35 PM

I will!
Its not fair and it should be made right!
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Fairfax county Va - 03/27/11 11:37 PM

oh yea by the way DCMuffin I saw your gliderroom pics on your website and that has got to be the best glider room in the world!
Posted By: mithryanna

Re: Fairfax county Va - 04/26/11 09:40 PM

Has any progress been made on this? I would be glad to jump on board. Does anyone have a specific point of contact so our letters / complaints / inquiries etc. are not lost or ignored when they go to the general board?

This really stupid law was a huge deciding factor in my husband and I's recent home purchase. Loudoun County for the win. Fairfax needs to get with the picture.
Posted By: mithryanna

Re: Fairfax county Va - 04/26/11 11:07 PM

Originally Posted By: VirtuallyFresh
The facts seem to be that Sugar Gliders fall into a loophole that seems to be overlooked in these exotic pet laws. They either are just generically grouped in with owning Squirrels, of which they are not, or are just grouped as a non native warm blooded animal. I've printed out all the laws and documentation i can both from Virginia and from Fairfax County and it seems that although Fairfax County says they do NOT supersede the laws of Virginia on exotic pets, they are meant to compliment them, leads me to believe that they just have no information and have blindly just deemed them illegal. They pose no threat to the environment as far as overpopulation or predatory aspects. They are actually more at risk to themselves than to any other human or animal is concerned.


I have been wondering for quite some time if there is an actual reason for the ban on sugar gliders (in the legislators' minds) in Fairfax County, or if the law is just an outdated all-inclusive blanket law.

Anyone who has been in contact with officials over this matter, have you been able to figure out exactly what the reasoning is behind this law, so that we can debunk whatever misinformation or concerns FFC may have concerning gliders?

I am willing to speak to county officials myself, but I would like to be prepared and on the same page as everyone else here. My dad still owns a property in Fairfax County, even though he has since moved and is now renting it out, so I can maybe play that angle if they decide they don't want to listen to anyone outside of the county. Can't imagine it will be an issue, though.
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