Sonic the Hedgehog Inspires 11-Year-Old to Change Pet Laws in Kansas
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York 
on 01. 4.09
Photo courtesy of CSS Play
When 8 year-old Judson King decided he wanted his favorite video game character for a pet three years ago, it wasn't just some fleeting phase based on fantastical whims like it would be for most youngsters. No, the boy's infatuation with Sonic the Hedgehog set a chain of events in motion that would end up actually changing Kansas law.
After playing the videogame Sonic the Hedgehog, King became bent on acquiring a hedgehog of his own as a pet. (Can't say we blame him: the hedgehog made our list of the 7 cutest animals on the web) But hedgehogs are banned by state law in Kansas—likely enough to stop any kid too young to head to a PG-13 movie alone. But according to KTKA news, King instead spent his nights doing research and drafting letters to his local city hall.
In 2008, the city commission finally put his letter on the agenda, and before long, the 11-year old boy was standing in front of the city commission. He apparently showed up wearing a suit and tie, and briefed the commission with a slew of facts about hedgehogs. The council couldn't find any reason to maintain the ban—they couldn't seem to find why it existed in the first place—and lo, hedgehog pet ownership was legalized in Lawrence, Kansas.
Guess it's a good thing he wasn't a diehard SpongeBob fan—that one might've been harder to work out.
Why There Might Have Been a Ban
It's a neat story, sure—but here are some reasons why such a ban might've existed:
1. Hedgehogs are tough pets to keep: they're insectivores, so feeding them properly can present difficulties to families accustomed to feeding pets kibble or canned food. They're also nocturnal, and require a lot of space to roam (they have trouble adapting to enclosed areas)—and thus relatively difficult to care for. They don't have much resistance to climate variation either. For these reasons, they have a high mortality rate, as far as mammalian pets go.
2. The species is threatened in some countries. They're protected in Spain and France, and the hedgehog is endangered in England.
3. The hedgehog isn't endemic to North America—which means buying one for your home is encouraging an overseas pet trade.
That said, there are far worse pets to keep—and that little hedgehog really is pretty darn cute.
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Not to get hung up on a technicality, though how can a city commission change Kansas state law?
It's too bad someone hasn't come out with a video game where the hero/heroine is a pet rescued from a shelter.
Recyclican: Nintendogs?
Since hedgehogs can subsist healthily and happily on a diet of kitten food with the occasional piece of fresh meat or vegetable thrown in, the first reason for the ban isn't a very good one. A large wheel is sufficient exercise, so the cage does not have to be excessively large. Hedgehogs do not handle temperatures below 60-65 degrees well, but are comfortable well into the 90s; few houses are kept outside that range.
Why exactly is importing another non-local species a good thing? Hedgies may be cute, they may not ALL survive in the wild in Kansas, and this boy might be a responsible pet owner, but you know that inevitably, there will be a less than responsible pet owner, then several hundred less responsible pet owners. And there will eventually be a few survivor hedgehogs...
Sorry to rain on any parades but come on - encouraging the spread of non-native species is not responsible, is it?
Wild animals are always suffering in role of a pet!
You forgot to mention on the list of why they might be banned that hedgehogs can reach a speed upwards of 100 mph and kill giant robots.
If it makes anyone feel better hedgehogs are bred in Kansas so no pet necessarily needs to be imported.
http://www.pogstarhedgehogs.com/
There is no Kansas statute forbidding the ownership of hedgehogs, just local laws.