A pet wallaby was found wandering in NC. What animals are illegal to keep in Charlotte
The chances of a wallaby being spotted in North Carolina are low, but they’re not zero.
On Monday, the animal was spotted by Belmont resident Bryan Southers, who tweeted a video of the sighting. The video was then shared by WSOC reporter Jonathan Lowe that drew significant interest online.
The wallaby, a close cousin to the kangaroo native to Australia, was seen hopping through a neighborhood in Gastonia.
Gaston County officials told the TV station that kangaroos and wallabies are illegal within city limits, Lowe wrote in a follow-up tweet.
Gaston County Animal Care and Enforcement found the person responsible for the animal and will transport it to another place to be cared for, WBTV reported.
There is no state law regulating the ownership of exotic animals, but most counties don’t have an exotic animal ordinance. Like Gaston, Mecklenburg County has laws in place that prevent people from keeping wild animals as pets.
According to the Mecklenburg County Animal Control Ordinance, it is against the law for “any person, firm or corporation to keep, maintain, possess or have under their control within the county, any venomous reptile or any other wild exotic animal.”
The law defines an exotic animal as one that would normally be found in a zoo or in the wilderness, is not indigenous to the U.S. or North America, or could cause destruction of property or bodily harm.
Animals that are not allowed to be kept as pets in Mecklenburg County include:
Monkeys
Raccoons
Squirrels
Ocelots
Bobcats
Wolves
This law does not apply to lawfully operated pet shops, zoos, scientific research laboratories, circuses or veterinarians providing professional medical treatment.
If an animal is deemed to be dangerous to the public, it can be seized by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Animal Care & Control unit and euthanized “in a humane manner,” the ordinance says.
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 11:53 AM with the headline "A pet wallaby was found wandering in NC. What animals are illegal to keep in Charlotte."
