There is still no trace of the cobra, which probably got out of the terrarium of a private keeper in Herne on Sunday.
Around 30 tenants had to vacate their adjoining apartments - since then they have been waiting in alternate quarters for the snake to finally be captured. The rage on carelessness and carelessness in dealing with animals dangerous to humans is great.
"Personally, I am against the attitude of very dangerous species in homes or apartments," said North Rhine-Westphalia's Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Esser (CDU) on Tuesday. Up to now, in the most densely populated federal state, there are hardly any requirements for the keeping of wild animals in private households as long as species protection rules are met.
"Particularly dangerous and highly poisonous animals do not belong in private homes," also finds the Green MPs Norwich Rüsse. For potentially deadly animals such as poisonous snakes, scorpions, crocodiles or big cats, a ban on keeping them should apply. "I will commit myself at the state level, that the attitude of poisonous animals in North Rhine -Westphalia will be banned," announced the Herne SPD member of Parliament Alexander Vogt.
The SPD and Greens had already in 2014 - at that time as government factions - a danger animal law sought. The initiative failed, however, mainly because of the resistance of the municipalities.
NRW's environment minister Heinen-Esser said that her ministry is now reviewing "the existing legal requirements and potentially further regulations, possibly also a Federal Council initiative". On the one hand, the minister referred to the dangerous nature of the animals and, moreover, had "doubts as to whether the keeping of such animals in dwellings is species and animal welfare".
According to the Greens and the SPD, in addition to the ban on the keeping of particularly dangerous animals, there should also be regulations for dangerous animals that can not kill people but injure them - such as snapping turtles or tarantulas. For them a duty of disclosure is to be introduced.
The alleged owner of the cobra is said to have housed another 20 poisonous snakes in his apartment. The husband was forbidden the keeping of the animals until further notice. Police and firefighters deployed flour and double-sided tape in the houses to find traces of crawl in the event of the animal returning.
According to the snake expert Roland Byner, the serpent is a highly poisonous monocle cobra. It should be between 1.40 meters and 1.60 meters long and have a diameter of six centimeters. A bite is lethal, said Byner.