April 27, 2021 By Nate Smelle With Hastings County developing an exotic animal bylaw template for local municipalities to use; and, both Limerick Township and the Municipality of Highlands East recently passing their own exotic animal bylaws, the pressure is mounting for Hastings Highlands to approve their own bylaw. While council has yet to pass legislation regulating the keeping of exotic animals in the municipality, they did emerge from a closed session meeting on April 21 to announce that they were one step closer to doing so. After consulting with the municipality’s lawyer during the closed session, council directed staff to produce a draft exotic animal bylaw and present it for a first reading at an upcoming meeting. Although a timeline as to when the bylaw will be presented has yet to be determined, CAO David Stewart said municipal staff will continue to work hard to deliver all of council’s directives in a timely manner.