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nothing is private
Hi ritchie, thanks for responding to my thread. I must say, I like your attitude about your pets. Unfortunatly that attitude doesnt always work in your favor. If you have the time, I will tell you about the horror me and my family are going through right now.
I am living in vermont which I am sure you can imagine is very back woods. People who own exotics are basically considered freaks. I have a huge passion for exotics,especially reptiles. I have several snakes and monitors and have gotten alot of grief over them from most everyone(neighbors threaten to burn my home etc.)
I am an intellegent individual and know to check my state laws before buying exotics. aprox. 2 years ago I purchased a 4' american alligator. he was wonderful and I enjoyed him alot. A Vermont fish and game officer came to my house and asked me if I owned an alligator.I said yes, he then tried to convince me that they are illigal in this state quoting a law about indiginous animals. As we all know, gators dont live in vermont. he took the gator, I contacted his department constantly for 3 days. they then brought the gator back and told me I had to take it out of state. there was not a single document exchanged on this case.
I figured it was back tracking on their part and they made a mistake,just the same,I parted with my gator. This past summer I purchased two babies that were extremely tame. Late one afternoon this fall I was raided by fish and game on a warrent they obtained becouse someone called in a report that I was soliciting puppies to feed my gators(keep in mind these were 02' babies).The law they are trying to use this time is that I imported wild animals without a permit. I think we all know that a farm raised gator is NOT a wild animal. I bought them in this state so I didnt even import them.
I hired a really good lawyer, he has checked all the laws and there is NO law that saws you cant own any sort of crocadilian. Of course when Fish and Wildlife found out we were fighting it, they destroyed my baby gators. we are fighting this case, It has been long and expensive but the state is in the wrong. this is going to result in a big ugly lawsuit.The local newspapers are totally taking the states side and making me out to be an idiot.
So in conclusion, It is great to stand up for your rights, If you dont,noone will but the bottom line is- As wonderful of a country as this is, it isnt entirely free. the federal,state and local government does what it wants regardless of the laws. Its truely sad that a animal lover who was doing something good for the world is so badly defamed and made out to be scum. The sad thing is, no amount of court hearings or dollars spent will bring back the lives of those poor baby gators. We hobbiests offer a new lease on life for animals that were destined for the skin shop or dinner table.
Sorry this is soo long, I really hope people take the time to read this and I thank all that read this. sincerely corey kingsbury
P.S. Please tell everyone you know about this,direct people to this post and help tell my story.
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