FaunaClassifieds - View Single Post - The Columbus Reptile show was Raided by Fish&wildlife officers

07-01-2003, 01:29 PM

Jason, I am glad that you want to help but I really believe you are going in a bad direction. Herp societies are a thing of the past. The big strong organizations are all now very small and poorly attended. Between herp shows and the internet, most people don't feel they have any reason to be in one anymore. NOAH in Ohio and MSH in Michigan used to have hundreds of members years ago and would have an enormous mailing list. These days they have less than a hundred active members and have little influence on things.

I still tell you all that the way to go is simple. Get as many people as you can to give their name/address/email/phone number info to one master list. This list can then be used as a big head start for petitions and signature drives in any state/county/city. To get enough people you need to sign people up at herp shows and pet shops all over the country. To accomplish this, you need to do it via the net and send people to the site via notices everywhere. Fliers, ads, emails, snail mail, etc. I am still looking into doing this. It is about the only way to go. For those of you that have never tried to get people involved in something against government legislation before, let me tell you here, it is very very hard to do. People do not want to be involved for fear that if it goes poorly they have given themselves away as a potential target as well as people who know that they are violating laws and do not want to advertise the fact to the government. It has a lot of downside and takes some courage.

Even going to a busy mall or shopping center and gathering signatures and info for future use is a good idea. It is all a numbers game. You need to get as many people as possible to give you their info. You could get more people at one large herp show than you will get from a handful of herp societies.

I have been getting a bunch of emails and phone calls from people who want to help and that is great, but there are so many of you talking about doing your own thing to help that it is just doing more splintering. There needs to just be one organisation, not 3 or 4. That only weakens us, stretching things out further. One united front is how the war needs to be won. Anyone that wants to gather support, start doing that. Wether it is me or somebody else we will get one path going in the right direction. We just need to pull everybody together. Breeders, dealers, show promoters, importers, hobbiests, website operators, pet shop owners, etc, etc. It is time that people have to be made to realize that it is now or never. We can stand up and be counted and fight the fight or become law breakers hiding herps in our house and not letting anyone know that we have them. That is what is happening in most of Europe now. Many countries, including England, have banned herp shows, restricted herp sales and herp keeping. Banning the majority of animals not because they are native or endangered but because the government feels people should not have them. I do not think any of you want that to happen here.

07-01-2003, 01:29 PM	#93
evansnakes	Jason, I am glad that you want to help but I really believe you are going in a bad direction. Herp societies are a thing of the past. The big strong organizations are all now very small and poorly attended. Between herp shows and the internet, most people don't feel they have any reason to be in one anymore. NOAH in Ohio and MSH in Michigan used to have hundreds of members years ago and would have an enormous mailing list. These days they have less than a hundred active members and have little influence on things. I still tell you all that the way to go is simple. Get as many people as you can to give their name/address/email/phone number info to one master list. This list can then be used as a big head start for petitions and signature drives in any state/county/city. To get enough people you need to sign people up at herp shows and pet shops all over the country. To accomplish this, you need to do it via the net and send people to the site via notices everywhere. Fliers, ads, emails, snail mail, etc. I am still looking into doing this. It is about the only way to go. For those of you that have never tried to get people involved in something against government legislation before, let me tell you here, it is very very hard to do. People do not want to be involved for fear that if it goes poorly they have given themselves away as a potential target as well as people who know that they are violating laws and do not want to advertise the fact to the government. It has a lot of downside and takes some courage. Even going to a busy mall or shopping center and gathering signatures and info for future use is a good idea. It is all a numbers game. You need to get as many people as possible to give you their info. You could get more people at one large herp show than you will get from a handful of herp societies. I have been getting a bunch of emails and phone calls from people who want to help and that is great, but there are so many of you talking about doing your own thing to help that it is just doing more splintering. There needs to just be one organisation, not 3 or 4. That only weakens us, stretching things out further. One united front is how the war needs to be won. Anyone that wants to gather support, start doing that. Wether it is me or somebody else we will get one path going in the right direction. We just need to pull everybody together. Breeders, dealers, show promoters, importers, hobbiests, website operators, pet shop owners, etc, etc. It is time that people have to be made to realize that it is now or never. We can stand up and be counted and fight the fight or become law breakers hiding herps in our house and not letting anyone know that we have them. That is what is happening in most of Europe now. Many countries, including England, have banned herp shows, restricted herp sales and herp keeping. Banning the majority of animals not because they are native or endangered but because the government feels people should not have them. I do not think any of you want that to happen here.