AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine woman is being allowed to keep her pet wallaby for now, even though wildlife officials say she is violating state law by keeping a wild animal as a pet.
Michelle Charette of Island Falls took the male marsupial named Kingston home on Wednesday after a hearing at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
The state is concerned that the animal indigenous to Australia can catch and transmit rabies because it has not been vaccinated.
The Bangor Daily News reports that Charette and her supporters told the threemember appeals panel they will get the wallaby vaccinated and are willing to comply with any conditions the state sets. Charette says the wallaby, a gift after her divorce, comforts her.
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