In March, Loudoun County banned a slew of exotic animals that had previously been legal, including kangaroos, baboons, and king-cobra snakes. “People can get in over their heads pretty quickly,” says Chris Brosan, the county’s chief of humane law enforcement. “There are just some animals that should not be pets.” But officials didn’t want to force residents to give up their beloved companions—even the deadly varieties. So Loudoun allowed current owners to keep them for the rest of the creatures’ natural lifespans. With one key qualification: They had to report their ownership of the animals. Here are some of the unusual animals that might be your neighbors:
Number of monkeys owned by one Virginian. Two are spider monkeys, the others squirrel monkeys. Both species are native to Central and South America.
Number of scorpions declared by a pet owner. No word on what kind—only certain scorpion species are dangerous to humans.
Number of wolf hybrids listed by another respondent. Again, there’s no further info, but this is presumably the offspring of a wolf and a dog. Let’s hope the owner obeys leash laws.
This article appears in the July 2023 issue of Washingtonian.
