Walking the dog is an important part of keeping your pet healthy, but what about walking your pet snake?
A young man in Truro, N.S. likes to take his seven-foot-long Central American boa constrictor for a walk around town, but not everyone is comfortable with the routine.
“I’ve had snakes for the last four years,” says snake owner Kenny Oliver. “I used to be terrified of them myself.”
Oliver usually keeps Titus in his own room at his apartment, where he is fed frozen meat.
Now that the weather is getting warmer, Oliver likes to wrap Titus around his shoulders and take him for a walk downtown.
“Most people like it. A handful of people don’t,” says Oliver. “People are scared, a lot of older people. I’ve had people track me down and chase me in their vehicles to see him, pet him, take pictures with him.”
But not everyone sees Titus as a great photo op. Truro Town Council is hearing complaints from shoppers who are scared of the snake.
“I can understand, people who walk by who perhaps have a phobia of reptiles,” says Truro Mayor Bill Mills. “They take a second look and some of them get quite nervous about the whole thing, and so there’s a feeling that perhaps it might be dissuading shoppers from the area.”
There is no town bylaw against owning or walking a snake, and opinions on the matter seem mixed in town.
“It’s likely the type of thing I would take a wide berth around,” says Ron Smith.
“I don’t mind if somebody walks around with their snake,” says Donna MacKay. “It wouldn’t bother me as long as the snake didn’t bother me.”
Mills says the town solicitor will be checking to see if there are any provincial laws regarding the display and handling of reptiles or large snakes.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
