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Foolish, poorly worded and dangerous law just about sums that up... While the spirit of better education is nice to see, the implementation in this format is terrible.
Outside of the difficulty in acquiring short care guides for every species that can potentially be sold, there is an increased cost in time, effort and money to the dealer and it damages potential book sales. Many people have a distinct desire to have written information about the animal in question and will seek out a book on at least general reptile care if there isn't a species specific one available, the force of care sheets will lower those numbers to some degree.
It also removes individual attention and determination of proper care from the seller. Individuals with lifetime experience caring for these animals may find themselves arguing with their customers over what the care sheet says unless they write it themselves and include multiple possibilities encompassing every potential situation the animal may encounter.
Taking a quick look at the website that was designed specifically for this purpose, there are a whopping seven species of herp with care guides (And they suggest less than stellar informational sources, for the species where the care guide is even truly existent)... Does this mean that the specialty stores that cater to the herping community and that have long been bastions of ideal and educated information in their own rights need to bang out three or four hundred care sheets to encompass every species they have in stock, and then another half dozen or so every time they get in a new shipment of animals?
The fines certainly won't punish or impose any tangible restriction on the majority of stores that aren't giving out proper information to start, they will simply phase out herps and focus on small animals and birds where there are fewer species to deal with (in the pet trade).
One other significant question would be the need to do this for fish and other aquatic organisms, a bill of this nature with this wording could put many an aquarium retailer out of business or severely debilitate their ability to properly conduct their enterprise. There are a large number of herps that may pass through a specialty store but there are literally thousands upon thousands of species that will end up moving through an aquarium specialty shop.
What about feeder animals? Does every cricket need a proper care guide?
Stupid wording to a stupid law supported by stupid people which will have an effect diametrically opposed to that which was intended.
It also occurs to me to ask about the languages and forms this information is provided in. California has a fairly significant non-english speaking population, does the law require that these care sheets be available in every language?
How about in Braille for the blind?
To see that the people supporting this also provide links to HSUS and PETA operated websites and that the state approved website has care sheets by my FAVORITE person just pounds in the fact that this law has nothing to do with proper education, it's merely an attempt to restrict private ownership of the animals involved and designed to damage the pet industry.
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