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Pet crocodile will be on the move to outside city
Published Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Photo by Photo Provided
Billy the crocodile will be relocated to a home outside Fergus Falls in the next week. Police told his owner it is against city code to keep crocodiles as pets.
A Fergus Falls man who must give up his pet crocodile within the next week says the animal is not dangerous.
Marvin Weinrich Jr. is the owner of a dwarf caiman crocodile, a roughly three-foot animal weighing around 14 pounds. Weinrich purchased the crocodile in 1994 from a Fergus Falls pet store which has since been replaced by Barringer’s Coffee House.
“It’s not a wild crocodile,” said Weinrich, 37, who calls the animal Billy. “It’s from a game farm.”
After nearly 15 years of ownership, Weinrich learned Monday he will need to move Billy to home outside the city. Fergus Falls police visited his home after an anonymous reporter inquired about the legality of keeping a crocodile.
As it turns out, the city code prohibits the ownership of a handful of non-domestic animals including: large cats (ie. tigers, cougars), naturally wild canines (foxes, wolves), rodents and “inherently dangerous” reptiles and amphibians including rattlesnakes, boa constrictors and crocodiles.
Sgt. Terry Eldien said Tuesday he told Weinrich to relocate the crocodile outside the city within seven days or face prosecution.
Weinrich said he keeps Billy in a cage on his dresser and feeds the crocodile frozen rats he orders through Ben Franklin Crafts, which supplies various pet foods.
“I’ve only been bitten once in about 15 years,” Weinrich said, “and no one else has been bitten, except a cat.”
In the cat incident, Billy clamped down on a visiting cat’s tail. The cat’s owner used a spoon to pry the crocodile’s mouth open, Weinrich said.
Weinrich, the father of a 15-year-old, says he remembers taking the crocodile to Adams School when his son was a third grader.
“We brought it to the school and all the kids got to come out and look at it,” he said.
Weinrich said his crocodile has never gotten him in trouble before. He’s not happy about having to part with his pet, but says he’ll comply with city code. Within the week, Billy will move to the home of family friends out in the country, where Weinrich will visit once or twice a month.
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Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by doctipster (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 12:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Prosecution of owning a crocodile... hmmmm our tax dollars at work... seems pretty trivial and a waste of money to me. Officers time to go over there, write paperwork, phone calls made by city attorneys office, and maybe possibly court action....
Leave the guy and his croc alone...
Posted by currentresident (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 12:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Marvin was probably bragging to someone (obviously the wrong one)about having a minature crocodile when its actually just a lizard that he has. I hope this makes national headlines so people can see how foolish these people are that are running this town. How is a lizard in a cage on a dresser going to hurt anyone. He's already had it for 15 years folks! The lady that had all the tigers and so forth a while back I completely understand that one, but this is totally opposite. What's next? Hamsters? Gerbils? It does say 'rodents' at the end of that paragraph about city code. House to house search? What's next?
Posted by HoldenCaulfield (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 12:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
seriously, this a bunch of croc.
Posted by thethinker (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 1:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
OMG....what a Croc of....well....a nation run by the minority....if 1 person doesn't like something (i.e. is "offended"), the disliked item must go! Hey, I don't like the Dallas Cowboys.....heh-heh
Posted by prowler (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 1:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If it is illegal to keep this animal, how was it legal for the pet store to sell it in the first place? If the city ordinance was adopted less than 15 years ago, then this case should be grandfathered.
Posted by robbie (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 1:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We do need to excerise some common sense in our laws FFPD. These two have been together for over 10 years. There has been a good suggestion or two on here for perhaps a better and useful way for it to live. He or she probably would like a mate. Maybe more freedom-I don't know any details of it's cage but it's a cage. Another thought is my horses are in a pasture-no matter how big the cage it is a cage. Good care is in good nutrition, excerise, safety, stimulation, interaction and etc. I hope the best for owner and pet as they have built 10 years together and are being forced to seperate, just seems wrong.
Posted by metasonics (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 3:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I know Marvin personally and he is an excellent pet owner, it is in fact a crocodile, but it has never caused any problems and should be grandfathered in as he purchased it completely legally in this city!
He should not be forced to part with a member of his family!
time to call your newly elected city council members I think and let them know how you feel
Jamie Cooper
Posted by watermelon (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 3:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's illegal to own exotic pets like that. Do you guys get mad at the local police for "wasting taxpayer money" when they bust you for smoking dope and making meth in your trailer homes? And Cooper: you're vouching for Marvin Weinrich? That sure says a lot. You're all such fine upstanding citizens these days.
Hmm...I think I'll go and get myself a howler monkey as a companion. Sure, he carries disease and bites all my friends, but he certainly is a nice animal.
SHEESH. I'd like for you goofballs to explain what the local police _should_ be wasting our tax dollars on, if not enforcing the law and city code.
Posted by mommaof4 (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 4:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
chill out watermelon. I dont know any of these people, I do not smoke pot, or live in a trailer or anything like that and I still think its rediculous. He is not hurting anyone, he hasnt had any problems with it escaping or anything, he even was able to bring it to "show and tell". I agree with the others, it's a big waste of tax payer money, and I live don't even live there, I am in Fargo. He even bought the thing in Fergus. Maybe someone should come take away one of your beloved pets. I just love to hear about all the stupid stuff that happens in my OLD stompin grounds. Pull your underwear out of your butt watermelon!!
Posted by ajohnsonx (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 4:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Big waste of taxpayer money...?...how about when they drive around all day and pull people for going 32 mph...or sit in the Holiday Gas Station parking lot, now thats how to waste tax money. The truth is that there are laws in place and they have to be enforced. Wait until the Croc gets out of the cage this summer and latches on to some poor kids arm selling kool-aid on the corner..then there will be posters saying the Croc should have been sent away a long time ago....and for the "grandfathered in" rule.....I suppose I should only have to pay 25 cents for a candybar since thats all I had to pay twenty years ago....at least its good to see that Cooper is back posting comments again.
Posted by tippy98c (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 4:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm pretty sure these situations can be dealt with on a case by case basis. If no signs of abuse or negligence exist leave it alone.
Posted by E_85 (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 4:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The price of objects are not laws! That is a stupid comment about the candy bar price. In the 15 yrs he has owned the croc, dogs have bitten more people in our great town then "Billy". Ajohnsonx and Watermelon, your comparisons are very weak and make no sense.
Posted by mommaof4 (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 4:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree E_85
Posted by buster (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 5:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is NUTZ!!! The police are worried the thing might get out of a cage and outside the house and maybe bite somebody...I guess it does makes sense to force this guy to release it into the wild, where nobody has control of it...Please let me know where this is released so I don't hunt there!?!?! Put it that way maybe it doesnt make sense...
Posted by 1125thmp (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 5:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
At least here in Fergus the actual percentage of individuals callous and self centered enough to proclaim egregious harm simply by there fellow human beings existences and particular quirks of nature not in tune or subservient to there own, are easily identifiable. Kindness and the simple idea of fairness without regressing to extorting tales of people having there arms bitten off or ridiculous notions of determining behavioral ideas in terms of the what it is to reflect on inflation do better in discussing this story. Why the internet breeds this nearly static state of love or hate is beyond me. For anonymity can be at the forefront of any discussion but it is never an excuse for behaving in such ill humor, causing harm simply to the discussion, never less the individual or cause in question. When did we stop becoming friendly to one another, even when differing opinions stood awakened? Marvin, good luck with keeping your crocodile.
Posted by kokobeware (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 5:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What is with "an anonymous reporter" being used in the story? Inquired about the legality of owning a crocodile sounds like manufacturing news, and if that isnt the point why insert that fact at all? The quality of the reporters at the Daily Journal is way below par for a paper of this size. If you turned this article in for a journalism class, the instructor would give it a failing grade.
Posted by alwayshere (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 6:02 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by wayne (anonymous) on January 14, 2009 at 9:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't understand most of these posts. . .
First off, those jumping on the FFPD. They received a complaint, investigated it and informed the animal's owner that he was in violation of city ordinance, then gave him a reasonable amount of time to rectify the situation. If you disagree with the ordinance, that's fine - but the FFPD has nothing to do with creating the ordinances that are currently on the books - they just enforce the law, which is exactly what they should be doing.
Also, just because an item (animal or otherwise) was purchased legally within the city limits, that has no bearing on whether or not it's legal to own or use that item in the city limits, or what restrictions might be in place for its ownership or usage. Exotic animals are just one example, there I can think of quite a few others.
One last point about posts stating that this should be "grandfathered in". . . so if I'm found to be breaking the law, it should be OK to continue as long as I've been breaking the law for X number of years and no one has noticed? That doesn't make much sense to me either.
This is a pretty simple case - it's illegal to own that type of animal in city limits. The owner was caught and FFPD was more than fair in resolving this, in my opinion (its probably a misdemeanor, so they could have confiscated the animal immediately, and arrested or given a citation to the owner).
One last point (sorry). . . most cities the size of Fergus have similar laws on the books, so the comments about Fergus being backwards or whatever really don't hold much water. I'd be willing to bet that every city that's the size of Fergus or larger in MN or ND has similar laws on the ownership of exotic animals.
Posted by marvin_weinrich_jr (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 12:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's not exotic,it's a pet breed from a game farm.
I think Wayne was the narc.
Posted by Dragon (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 1:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
if that's the ordinance i won't be allowed to live in fergus!!!!
the animals i'm gonna be getting are bearded dragons and iguanas, and possibly another rat!!!
and it is ridiculous that they won't allow him to have it even though he had bought it in fergus!!! maybe they shouldn't of allowed the pet store to sell it!!!
Posted by Dragon (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 1:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
if i was him i would just move outside the city lol
Posted by landarch (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 8:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
1125thmp - Finally a thoughtful summation on what is actually the case in Fergus. Anonymity is a chief cause of the backstabbing, callous remarks for many of the comments posted for these stories. I also believe anonymity may be beneficial to a discussion to keep privacy, but when privacy is set aside and unfounded attacks are made, then civility and decency are replaced with ignorance and bias.
When was the last time someone actually signed their true name after a very opinionated posting? Rarely, if never – which I believe is very cowardly. I could care less about the stories posted on this website, since I don’t even live in Fergus…I only read the posts to see what some people will lower themselves to by posting such garbage.
As for the croc story, I sympathize with the owner. The majority of people will criticize what they do not understand, whether it be exotic pets, religious views different from their own, or the like. Sad, that instead of having a thread of empathy and tolerance, people will gang up and ostracize those different from the norm. Our differences are what make out communities unique and strong!
Marvin W. – sorry, but a ‘dwarf caiman crocodile’ is exotic. Being that it is native to South America, I could not agree with your claim for a non exotic species. As long as you vote for your city officials, and they pass laws such as this one (for whatever reason) you need to follow them. I believe that if the law was passed after you had purchased Billy, then you should be grandfathered in – Billy will not live forever, and once he is passed on to the big tropical rainforest in the sky, FF will not have a croc problem anymore.
Eric B,
Not a resident of FF
Posted by wayne (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 9:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Marvin - sorry, I have no idea who you are, let alone that you owned a crocodile until I read it in the paper. And I have absolutely nothing personal against you. . . just stated some thoughts about some of the posts I was reading on here.
Besides, I have a neighbor two houses away that owns four dogs - also in violation of city ordinance. But I have better things to do than "narc" out a neighbor over a pet-related issue. Looks like you better keep searching for who turned you in, since it certainly wasn't me! :)
Posted by Mel (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 10:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Remember the bruhaha in Barnesville about the ducks that a couple had, they must have been dangerous.
Posted by TheVikingman (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 1:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have a couple dust bunnies with nasty attitudes. Anybody that wants to take them out of city limits is more then welcome to them.
Posted by wwjdt (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 10:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why would anyone keep a 3 ft. crocodile on their dresser? The creature wouldn't even be able to move. That in itself is enough reason to take it away from Marvin. Exotic pets should be left in their natural habitat...not in FF penned up.
The FFPD did exactly as what my taxpayer dollars pay them for...to enforce the law.
Good job.
Posted by Otter1 (anonymous) on January 15, 2009 at 10:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What to do with a Croc, make a pair of shoes, what else, they don't taste good at all. To many dogs, well find the guy that is cooking up the goat for the inauguration, he could use a dog for variety. Croc, goat and dog, what a menu! You could invite the new Prez.
Posted by Butterfly_Kisses13 (anonymous) on January 17, 2009 at 9:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok, Marvin really shouldn't have to get rid of Billy. He one bought him in Fergus Falls, Two has had him for close to 15 years, and Three he has never hurt anyone. Maybe a cats tail a little bit. But he has never bit anyone and I'd like to know how a Crocodile is going to get out of his cage, and out of the house without someone noticing before he gets outside? And as far as biting some kids arm he is only 3 feet long its not like he is a full grown crocodile thats going to go on some human eating feast. And something like a 3 foot crocodile i think would be more afraid of you and would try to get away from you unless you provoked it than you are just asking to get bit. but if not provoked one would be fine.
Posted by jrjj (anonymous) on January 18, 2009 at 6:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
otter1 your sickening.
Posted by mccain08 (anonymous) on January 26, 2009 at 7:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
fergus is a totalitarian nazi police state. they can tell you how many dogs you are allowed to own, but you can have as many ugly leeching children as you want. leave marv alone. i thought you conservatives were about small government. FFPD has their noses in every aspect of daily life.
sorry bout billy marv
-Dick Bacardi
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