Cem Özdemir wants exotic animals to be banned as pets. “Why does anyone need snakes?” asks the Federal Minister of Agriculture. Instead, only certain animals should be allowed in the future via a “positive list”.

Keeping exotic pets is to be banned in Germany in the future. Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir is planning this. “Why does someone need exotic animals that are difficult to keep, such as snakes or a chameleon, at home? I never understood that,” he told the newspapers of the Neue Berliner Redaktionsgesellschaft (Thursday).

“Some people get animals that, in my opinion, have no place in private households,” the Greens politician continued. Should a ban come, other animals such as spiders or lizards would probably also be affected.

The reason for Özdemir’s advance is simple. Animal shelters would have enormous problems with exotic animals. The animals cause a lot of work and cost the homes a lot of money. In addition, it would be difficult for them to get rid of them.

For the implementation, Özdemir can “imagine a positive list, i.e. a list of animals that are allowed to be kept”. He also wants to campaign for this at EU level, according to the Federal Minister of Agriculture.