We had a decent turn out at the Exotic Animal Keepers meeting in Richmond today with some big names in the herp community showing up. Michael Maddox of PIJAC attended the meeting and offered a wealth of great information on how to proceed with our efforts. The whole meeting was very informative and everyone had valuable input.
We need to proceed as a community and take action that will be effective in getting these proposed Bills withdrawn. The following points are listed in order of what was determined to be the most effective approach to reaching our goal.
• The number one best thing you can do is: EVERYTHING listed below.
• make an appointment with Delegate Christopher K Peace (patron who introduced HB 1242)
General Assembly Building
P.O. Box 406
Richmond, Virginia 23218
Phone: (804) 698-1097
Fax: (804) 698-6797
Email:
DelCPeace@house.virginia.gov
Room Number: 527
And
Senator L. Louise Lucas (patron who introduced SB 477)
Senate of Virginia
P.O. Box 396
Richmond, VA 23218
Email:
district18@senate.virginia.gov
Phone: (804) 698-7518
Fax: (804) 698-7651
Room No: 426
With a hand written letter in hand.
• Also very effective is: make an appointment to meet with each member of the committee with a hand written letter addressed to each committee member in hand. Be sure to be polite and well dressed. Even if the person you are meeting with doesn’t agree with what you have to say, be sure to stay calm and represent the herp community in a positive manner.
• Ask friends, family, and co-workers to join you and spend a few hours in Richmond and lobby against both bills. It’s best to make appointments, but if time doesn’t allow for appointments or you are not able to get an appointment with any, than stop in each office and speak with members staff. Again with letters in hand.
• Write letters (hand written letters carry the most weight) to each member on each committee, Delegate Christopher K Peace, and Senator L. Louise Lucas. Letters should be in your own words and no more than one page. Letters don’t need to be long, a short and to the point letter is fine. Be sure you check your spelling, be respectful and polite. If you are typing your letter be sure to hand sign them. Mailing and hand delivering letters will hold more weight than emailing or faxing them. Try to avoid form letters as they carry little to no weight. Using form letters as a guide to writing your letters in fine, but be sure your letter is in your own words so it appears more personal.
• Make phone calls to each member on each committee, Delegate Christopher K Peace, and Senator L. Louise Lucas.
• Petitions carry little to no weight.
Our first goal is to get Delegate Christopher K Peace, and Senator L. Louise to retract their proposed Bills before the committees meet to hear them. It is very important to set appointments and get letters out as soon as possible. If we don’t meet our first goal then the next goal is to have the proposed Bills dismissed by the committees or convince them to send the proposed Bills to scientific study (scientific study would buy us a year). To achieve this we need as many people as possible to be ready to show up at the public hearing with little notice (the hearing dates and time are only posted 24-48 hours before the hearing). We have people who are prepared to speak, but still need bodies to show our numbers as a community.
Things to keep in mind
When you meet with Senators and Delegates be prepared to include escape protocols (they what to know what we would do in the event of a escape).
Be sure to back up any claims you make with facts that you can prove.
Be professional in every possible way. We want them to view our community as professional and responsible.
Even if you don’t own any species on these proposed Bills, get involved now. Just because the species you keep isn’t on the proposed Bills now, doesn’t mean they can’t be added if these Bills get passed. Many other states passed bans that only started with a few species, but now are adding new species every year.
When communicating (in letters or person) with the Senators and Delegates about these proposed Bills, let them know that you opposed to the proposed Bills as they are written, but would be open to a reasonable permit process. This shows we as a community are responsible, reasonable and willing to work on a solution.
Lastly we all need to come together as a community and support each other. Don’t sit back and hope everyone else will fight this. We all need to do our part.
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