For now, wallabies welcome in Tarpon

A judge rules a couple can keep their pet wallabies, because the city code fails to define wallabies as wild.

By KATHERINE GAZELLA

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 9, 2000

TARPON SPRINGS -- The wallaby named LaRoo and her parents will be able to hop, eat apples and play with their owners a while longer.

A judge has ruled that Tarpon Springs' zoning code does not clearly say whether wallabies are wild animals.

That means LaRoo, who escaped from her owners' yard for four days in September, and parents Sidney and Ruby will remain at the Wideview Avenue home of Mindy Greene and fiance Tony Dirienzo, at least for now.

"It's a happy ending," Greene said.

Circuit Judge David Demers wrote there was insufficient evidence that the wallabies, a small species of kangaroo, are considered wild under city code. Demers said that he wasn't trying to establish whether the animals should be considered wild, but rather whether the city ordinance defines wallabies as wild.

"It was my very first wallaby case," he said.

The City Code Enforcement Board voted in November that the animals should be allowed as pets. But in December, city commissioners agreed to let City Attorney John Hubbard file an appeal in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court.

Hubbard said at the time that wallabies might live near humans in Australia, but not in the United States. But he conceded that wallabies pose different dangers from other banned pets, such as alligators or bears.

Wallabies "may hop you to death, but they wouldn't bite you," he said.

The city can appeal Demers' decision. The city also could add wallabies to the list of animals described as wild.

Thomas Trask, the city's attorney in this case, said the city probably won't appeal. But he said the wallabies' owners could be cited for other violations, if they are found in violation of nuisance ordinances or other city ordinances.

Regardless of what the judge ruled, Trask's mind is made up about wallabies.

"They're wild animals," he said. "Not many people have kangaroos in their houses."

The city does not allow wild animals as pets on small, residential lots. There is no specific mention of wallabies in the code.

The city code allows "household pets," which it defines as "those species of non-farm animal which generally live in or about the habitations of humans," including dogs, cats, marine and freshwater tropical fish, small non-venomous reptiles up to 8 feet in length, hamsters, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, tarantulas, rabbits and birds.

It bans wild animals, which generally do not live near human homes, including alligators, badgers, bears, crocodiles, gorillas, hyenas, jaguars, deer, hedgehogs and pelicans.

The wallabies' owners were relieved by the judge's ruling. They're happy to know their family will remain intact, at least for the time being.

On Thursday, Greene and Dirienzo showed the wallabies to a visitor and talked about everything from the animals' behavior ("They're very, very docile," Greene said), to their bodily functions (because the wallabies are vegetarians, they produce small and nearly odor-free waste). The family's roofer held one of the wallabies and had two photos taken with it.

Greene said she hopes the city doesn't appeal the decision or find further fault with the family for having wallabies. If they do, she said, she has a plan.

"I would have every TV station, every newspaper. . . . I would set up accounts at the bank where people can donate," she said. "It would be a circus."

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