391-N - Sale of reptiles; notice.
§ 391-n. Sale of reptiles; notice. 1. Any person, firm, partnership, association or corporation who or which sells reptiles at retail shall give written notice to the purchaser of a reptile that reptiles are a potential cause of salmonellosis. Such notice shall substantially contain the following language: (a) As with many other animals, reptiles carry salmonella bacteria which can make people sick. To reduce the chance of infection, follow these safe reptile handling steps. (b) Always wash your hands thoroughly after you handle your pet reptile, its food or anything it has touched. (c) Keep your pet reptile in a habitat designed for it. (d) Keep your pet reptile and its equipment out of the kitchen or any area where food is prepared. (e) Keep reptiles out of homes where there are children under one year of age or people with weakened immune systems. Children under five should handle reptiles only with adult/parental guidance. 2. Every proprietor who or which conducts a business of selling reptiles at retail shall conspicuously post a warning poster on premises alerting consumers that reptiles are a potential cause of salmonellosis and should be handled with care. The warning poster shall be available in two sizes, the smaller of which shall be eight and one-half inches by eleven inches and the larger of which shall be eleven inches by twenty-five and one-half inches. The larger poster shall be utilized for posting unless because of limited wall space or store layout the larger poster cannot fit in a conspicuous spot near the reptile displays, in which case the smaller poster may be used. Such poster shall have conspicuous lettering and type and shall substantially contain the following language: (a) As with many other animals, reptiles carry salmonella bacteria which can make people sick. To reduce the chance of infection, follow these safe reptile handling steps. (b) Always wash your hands thoroughly after you handle your pet reptile, its food or anything it has touched. (c) Keep your pet reptile in a habitat designed for it. (d) Keep your pet reptile and its equipment out of the kitchen or any area where food is prepared. (e) Keep reptiles out of homes where there are children under one year of age or people with weakened immune systems. Children under five should handle reptiles only with adult/parental guidance. 3. Any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation or proprietor who or which violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed fifty dollars for each day of the violation, but in no event shall the total amount of such penalties exceed five hundred dollars.