USARK

[StudentoftheReptile]

Just was curious about something...

How many of you know what USARK is?

If you know what it is, just vote "yes." Please do not describe what it is on this thread. I would like to get as accurate as possible survey on how many members already know what it is. If you don't know what it is, just vote "no."

If you want to go google it after you vote, fine. But I want honest, right-off-the-cuff responses please.

 

[Jacqui]

I am already finding the results of your poll interesting.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

LOL...You probably already know what I'm getting at!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Saw it for the first time today on another website, still unsure what it is.

 

[EricIvins]

I can't say I'm surprised with the results.......There seems to always be a disconnect with Forums like these though - Alot of people have one or two Tortoises and aren't involved with the Trade in any way.......Unfortunately this could very well be the down fall of Reptile keeping in general if people aren't educated about things like this, if they care/want to be educated to begin with.......

 

[nikki0601]

I didnt know, voted no and then googled it.. I must admit I am not a reptile keeper, i keep turtles and now tortoises, other herps freak me out lol, I actually have a tiny wild lizard living in my turtle room because I am afraid of it and will not catch it and cant kill it, i just let him stay, i see him nearly every day now.. my mom bought me some of her plants to house for winter, I put em in the turtle room under a grow light, she come today and saw something has eaten her tomatoes, I suspect I know who

 

[exoticsdr]

I didnt know, voted no and then googled it.. I must admit I am not a reptile keeper, i keep turtles and now tortoises, other herps freak me out lol, I actually have a tiny wild lizard living in my turtle room because I am afraid of it and will not catch it and cant kill it, i just let him stay, i see him nearly every day now.. my mom bought me some of her plants to house for winter, I put em in the turtle room under a grow light, she come today and saw something has eaten her tomatoes, I suspect I know who

Oh, but you are a reptile keeper.

 

[Katherine]

Is there a poll somewhere? If there is I can't see it but yes yes yes. In addition to my many tortoises I keep a Retic and if moving or traveling its extremely helpful to have an organized list of local laws to abide by, especially since they seem to be ever changing and NOT in my favor! For a nominal membership fee this org seems to be fighting the good fight.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

Is there a poll somewhere?

The poll feature should be at the top of the page of this thread. If you're logged in, you should be able to vote (if you haven't already). If it is not showing up, I have no clue why.

Although the results will continue to fluctuate as more people vote, it seems so far that approximately 60-75% of the members that have participated have/had no knowledge of USARK.

For those of you who don't already know, USARK stands for the United States Association of Reptile Keepers. You can find out more about them by visiting their website at www.USARK.org, but basically, they are a lobby group led by one Andrew Wyatt and several other pioneers of the industry that are dedicated to fighting for our rights and privileges to keep herps on both the state and federal level.

I can't say I'm surprised with the results.......There seems to always be a disconnect with Forums like these though - Alot of people have one or two Tortoises and aren't involved with the Trade in any way.......Unfortunately this could very well be the down fall of Reptile keeping in general if people aren't educated about things like this, if they care/want to be educated to begin with.......

This was my concern as well. The longer I've been a part of this forum, I've had this growing suspicion of that disconnect you referred to. I wonder if those who were not aware of USARK are the ones who exclusively keep tortoises and not other herps. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but my main concern was that perhaps there's this mentality that simply because tortoises and turtles are not considered "dangerous" or "threatening" as other herps can be (larger snakes, lizards, crocodilians, venomous herps, even some invertebrates), that chelonian keepers don't have anything to worry about and therefore don't concern themselves with the issues that other factions of the herp community face.

The reptile industry has been faced some pretty severe attacks in the past few years. Since 2008, we've seen a handful of bills threatening all sorts of things; some banning ALL boas and pythons (that would include small harmless ball pythons and sand boas!), and others banning all non-native species (not just herps, but tropical fish, birds, etc.). One of the latest ones (I forgot the name) was an attempt by the US Fish and Wildlife to include 9 species of large constrictors on the Injurious Species List of the Lacey Act. This included Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons, African rock pythons, anacondas (even 2 poorly described species that are non-existent in captivity anyway). The USFW ignored all due process and lacked real scientific proof to back up their reasons for this bill and tried their darndest to railroad it through. Only USARK fighting the fight and thousands of herpers across the nation writing letters to congress defeated this bill. It was the greatest letter-writing campaign since the Vietnam war.

What is my point? There are still thousands of herpers that are completely unaware that things like this happen. Even more concerning is that there are just as many herpers that are aware of such events, but don't really care. Perhaps they have the mentality "Oh well, I don't keep snakes. I just keep tortoises. That stuff isn't going to effect me." WRONG. The powers that be that are trying so hard to take away your rights to keep this reptile or that, these state senators with a axe to grind. They don't give a rip about pet keepers one way or another. They are being influenced by other lobby groups, animal rights groups like H$U$ and PETA. Do you think they are going to stop at snakes? It is already rumored that once they take away our snakes, they are already targetting lizards next. And the media of course eats this crap up. Just 2 years ago, my local paper ran a little article about how little exotic pets are a danger to kids because of germs and all that jazz. The article was mostly about hedgehogs, but it did mention reptiles as well. I wrote the editor on that one!

This poll thread was kinda triggered by the recent discussion not long ago about feeding live animals to reptiles (specifically snakes). Needless to say, I was rather surprised at some of the extreme opinions coming from what I considered fellow herpers. Now I'm not here to try to get everyone to like snakes, but seriously, folks...we're on the same side here. Regardless of your feelings on other herp species and how other hobbyists care for them, all reptile keepers are in the crosshairs of the enemy. It's not just snake keepers or tegu keepers, or whatever. Everyone can and will be affected by any of these potential laws that could pass any day. The battle is not over.

As far as USARK goes, whether you become an official member or not, I feel it behooves any reptile keeper, whether you keep one herp or a basement full, to stay up-to-date with what goes on in the rest of the reptile community. You can subscribe for free to USARK's mailing list, and get updates on impending legislation. If there is letter-writing to do, they make it easy to do, listing what to say (and what NOT to say), who to contact, etc. I can start posting updates here as well if enough people are interested.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

Just throwing this out there, no one here supports or donates to H$U$ or PETA, do they?

 

[jaizei]

Just throwing this out there, no one here supports or donates to H$U$ or PETA, do they?

Hahaha, good luck

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

LOL...thanks, but no luck required.

Just in case anyone here is not yet "enlightened," might I suggest clicking on the link below, scroll down to podcast #15 and listen in. H$U$ Prez and CEO Wayne Pacelle and host Tracie Hotchner have some very interesting things to say about reptile keepers, which I may remind everyone...tortoises are reptiles, too!

http://www.humanesociety.org/about/podcast/