Council hears first reading of ordinance to restrict public displays and performances of exotic animals; second reading set

Sedona — The Sedona City Council received a first reading and staff briefing on a proposed ordinance that would prohibit public displays and performances of wild or exotic animals on public property within city limits and establish enforcement authority and penalties.

Patrol Commander Chris Dowell and city legal staff presented the proposal, saying public displays — animals exhibited for photographs, shows or money on sidewalks and other public spaces — had increased in Uptown and raised health, safety and sanitation concerns. Dowell showed video and photographs in which handlers place live snakes, rodents and other animals on benches and allow tourists to take photographs. He said Arizona Game and Fish generally enforces wildlife statutes but that many of the animals encountered in Uptown were regulated under other state rules or were effectively in a regulatory gap.

The proposed ordinance would make it unlawful to display or sponsor the…