Oklahoma Officials Favor Exemption for Pet Kangaroo

An Oklahoma woman who said the cost of insurance and fees might force her to give up her pet kangaroo may get to keep the pet after all.

City councilors in a Tulsa suburb are in favor of an exotic animal ordinance exemption that would allow a resident to keep her red kangaroo within city limits.

The Broken Arrow City Council discussed the exemption for the partially paralyzed animal named Irwin during a recent meeting. Councilors unanimously voted to put the new language on the next meeting agenda for adoption.

The proposal would allow exotic animal owners to keep their pets if they obtain a newly created permit requiring them to have a $50,000 insurance policy for any injuries inflicted by the animal, certification that the animal has adequate housing for its health and to meet all federal and state guidelines for licensing, among other provisions.

Christie Carr said some of the proposed requirements to obtain a permit will make it difficult for her to keep the 25-pound kangaroo she takes to nursing homes as a therapy animal. She said finding and affording an insurance policy to cover the animal would be the biggest hurdle.

Carr has been criticized for dressing up Irwin in clothes and keeping the 1-year-old animal in an environment more consistent with raising a human being than a wild animal.

The council could adopt the exemption at its May 3 meeting.

Topics Oklahoma