Under Toronto's current bylaw concerning animals (Chapter 349, Section II), it states that the keeping of any poisonous or venomous animal is prohibited. With this statement in place, the keeping of a common house spider would be prohibited as well as such common household pets such as domestic cats (it is well known and documented that cat saliva is toxic and can even cause deaths, even if rarely). The purpose of this petition is to resolve this lack of clarity and more specifically, to allow the keeping of such harmless exotic pets as tarantulas and most scorpions.
There are no documented deaths from tarantula venom, including those caused by allergic reactions and this is well researched with vast quantities of data. This is significant, especially when you consider that deaths are caused by just about anything! Additionally, the great majority of these spiders are actually quite docile and rarely bite. While some potentially dangerous scorpions do exist, even these species are only rarely dangerous and the great majority of the over 1500 known species are quite harmless. The prohibition of these gentle and easily maintained pets is senseless and some clarity needs to be given to this poorly defined bylaw.
