The bill H.R. 511 was scheduled for a Markup Hearing before the US House Judiciary Committee yesterday (Feb 28, 2012). This bill allegedly seeks to add 9 constricting snakes to the Injurious Wildlife List of the Lacey Act.
Here is the text:
Update from Andrew Wyatt of the U.S. Assoc. of Reptile Keepers (Facebook post):
Guys, I put this thread here because it relates to all reptiles, not just snakes. Whether you like snakes or not, everyone needs to realize a few things. First of all, these lawmakers and the agenda-driven groups behind them that support these bans and laws are doing so because they are pushing the belief that these snakes can live in the lower 2/3s of the U.S. Think about that for a second. Red-tailed boas and pythons...these are tropical species that hail from equatorial climates. Despite what you see on Animal Cruelty Planet or the news, Burmese pythons are barely eeking out an existence in extreme southern Florida and their numbers are dwindling with every passing winter. These clowns in Washington would have you believe these snakes can invade over half the country, gobbling up poodles and kindergartners and established themselves as far north as New York. Does that seem accurate or plausible? I mean, it gets below freezing for a few weeks here in southern Alabama. I guarantee pythons aren't going to make it here. They sure as heck aren't going to make it any farther north. Yet bills like this one can get passed without any foundation of real, accurate scientific evidence.
Take another look at that bill. It mentions Boa constrictor sp. That's red-tailed boas...ALL red-tailed boas. Not just the large 8-9 ft Columbians, but the smaller localities like Hog Islands and Central Americans that rarely get over 5-6 ft. Anyone know how popular red-tailed boas are? They're argubly the most commonly-bred constrictor next to ball pythons, with all the morphs and mutations. At a max of 9 ft, they're not THAT huge compared to the other species mentioned on the bill. I mean, there's a handful of other python species that get larger that are not mentioned. This shows that they're not necessarily interested in banning all big snakes; they want to ban the snakes that will the most effect on our industry. Just watch...they'll come for ball pythons soon enough. They want to destroy the reptile hobby.
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This kinda goes hand-in-hand with the "enlightening" thread someone posted about PETA, as well as my previous threads about USARK. People, the reptile community is at war whether you realize it or not. You have to open your eyes and see what is happening. These non-govt organizations, namely HSUS, PETA, Defenders of Wildlife, & the Natures Conservancy are no friend to the pet community. If you keep any kind of exotic pet, you should not support these organizations. Look at the trend. It's the classic military strategy: take out the obvious targets first; i.e. the "hot topic" serious threats. What are those? Invasive species like burmese pythons, lionfish; dangerous beasts like big cats, bears, primates; bully breeds like pitbulls, etc. Once those are done, they move on to the next tier. They're already targeting all big snakes now, not just the Burmese python. Some states are jumping on the bandwagon and trying to ban all reptiles, even big lizards like monitors and iguanas. Then what? All reptiles? All tropical fish? It's a lot easier to take down your enemy in slices piece by piece than one big shot (they tried it with H.R. 669 back 2008).
What can you do?
Donate to USARK and PIJAC. These battles are won with two major weapons: money and influence. HSUS, PETA and their ilk have plenty. That's why USARK and PIJAC needs the support of the ENTIRE reptile community, not just snake-keepers. According to statistics, 1 out of every 25 Americans own at least one reptile. However, only a mere fraction of that demographic currently makes up the membership of USARK. I don't know about you, but there's something wrong with that.
In my little poll a while back, roughly 2/3 of the people here (or at least the people who participated) didn't even know what USARK was.
What else can you do? Continue to educate others about herps, and share with them how wonderful and fascinating these creatures are. If you're not already, get involved with a local herp club or society.
Here is the text:
Update from Andrew Wyatt of the U.S. Assoc. of Reptile Keepers (Facebook post):
--------------------------------------------
Guys, I put this thread here because it relates to all reptiles, not just snakes. Whether you like snakes or not, everyone needs to realize a few things. First of all, these lawmakers and the agenda-driven groups behind them that support these bans and laws are doing so because they are pushing the belief that these snakes can live in the lower 2/3s of the U.S. Think about that for a second. Red-tailed boas and pythons...these are tropical species that hail from equatorial climates. Despite what you see on Animal Cruelty Planet or the news, Burmese pythons are barely eeking out an existence in extreme southern Florida and their numbers are dwindling with every passing winter. These clowns in Washington would have you believe these snakes can invade over half the country, gobbling up poodles and kindergartners and established themselves as far north as New York. Does that seem accurate or plausible? I mean, it gets below freezing for a few weeks here in southern Alabama. I guarantee pythons aren't going to make it here. They sure as heck aren't going to make it any farther north. Yet bills like this one can get passed without any foundation of real, accurate scientific evidence.
Take another look at that bill. It mentions Boa constrictor sp. That's red-tailed boas...ALL red-tailed boas. Not just the large 8-9 ft Columbians, but the smaller localities like Hog Islands and Central Americans that rarely get over 5-6 ft. Anyone know how popular red-tailed boas are? They're argubly the most commonly-bred constrictor next to ball pythons, with all the morphs and mutations. At a max of 9 ft, they're not THAT huge compared to the other species mentioned on the bill. I mean, there's a handful of other python species that get larger that are not mentioned. This shows that they're not necessarily interested in banning all big snakes; they want to ban the snakes that will the most effect on our industry. Just watch...they'll come for ball pythons soon enough. They want to destroy the reptile hobby.
--------------
This kinda goes hand-in-hand with the "enlightening" thread someone posted about PETA, as well as my previous threads about USARK. People, the reptile community is at war whether you realize it or not. You have to open your eyes and see what is happening. These non-govt organizations, namely HSUS, PETA, Defenders of Wildlife, & the Natures Conservancy are no friend to the pet community. If you keep any kind of exotic pet, you should not support these organizations. Look at the trend. It's the classic military strategy: take out the obvious targets first; i.e. the "hot topic" serious threats. What are those? Invasive species like burmese pythons, lionfish; dangerous beasts like big cats, bears, primates; bully breeds like pitbulls, etc. Once those are done, they move on to the next tier. They're already targeting all big snakes now, not just the Burmese python. Some states are jumping on the bandwagon and trying to ban all reptiles, even big lizards like monitors and iguanas. Then what? All reptiles? All tropical fish? It's a lot easier to take down your enemy in slices piece by piece than one big shot (they tried it with H.R. 669 back 2008).
What can you do?
Donate to USARK and PIJAC. These battles are won with two major weapons: money and influence. HSUS, PETA and their ilk have plenty. That's why USARK and PIJAC needs the support of the ENTIRE reptile community, not just snake-keepers. According to statistics, 1 out of every 25 Americans own at least one reptile. However, only a mere fraction of that demographic currently makes up the membership of USARK. I don't know about you, but there's something wrong with that.
In my little poll a while back, roughly 2/3 of the people here (or at least the people who participated) didn't even know what USARK was.
What else can you do? Continue to educate others about herps, and share with them how wonderful and fascinating these creatures are. If you're not already, get involved with a local herp club or society.
