Melissa Kaplan -- Know thy enemy

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Jul29.html

Heidi Prescott:, national director of the Fund for Animals, headquartered in Silver Spring. "We certainly would like to see a total ban of exotic pets nationwide,"


Melissa Kaplan:"I'd like to see a total ban, but I know that is unlikely. It isn't easy to fight a billion-dollar industry. As long as there are people to buy, exotic animal dealers will cheerfully sell, no matter what the impact is on wild populations or on the animals -- or humans."


One of those is a wonderful quote from a person I believe to be a moderator at kingsnake. But I promise not to say who she is (melissa).................Let the truth come out.

OMG! Is that not the same Melissa Kaplan who is a well-respected and honored authority in the field of reptiles?

Melissa Kaplan, an environmental educator in Northern California and co-author of "Iguanas for Dummies," says outbreaks like monkeypox tend to be too limited to spur broad action on the exotics trade. Imports of all East African rodents have been banned, as were sales of pet turtles under four inches in the late '70s after it was determined that 14 percent of the 2 million salmonella cases each year were due to the cute creatures. "That's 280,000 people, mostly children, sick every year," she says. But, "unfortunately, I think the monkeypox scare is just going to be a brief blip on the screen."

Look at the bold.
Read between the lines.

let me tell you what the first bold says TO ME
Darn. Darn Double Darn. This monkey pox thing is not big enough to try and ban the ownership of ALL exotics.

Let me tell you what the second bold says to me.
I wish this monkey pox thing would kill a couple people....that way it can become big enough to spur some ban legislation on ownership of animals.

but that is what it says to me.

OMG! Is that not the same Melissa Kaplan who is a well-respected and honored authority in the field of reptiles?

Respected? Honored? Authority?

Not by anyone who really cares about keeping herps.

Originally posted by Sybella
OMG! Is that not the same Melissa Kaplan who is a well-respected and honored authority in the field of reptiles?

never heard the words well respected and honored with this name in a long time... ugghh.. I don't like that woman!

Ah yes, ol' melissa, self proclaimed expert on everything animal related. She will tell you out one side of her mouth how to care for your animal(not necessarily the right information, but she'll express her opinion none-the-less) and then tell her peta buddies that all animals as pets should be banned.

DO NOT TRUST THIS PERSON!!!!!

While I have not had personal interaction, other than to laugh at some of the advice she's given to others, my brother has. This woman is BAD news for all of us who keep and want to continue keeping our reptile friends.

Wes Pollock

I'll feed my 125 lb Shepard lettuce for a week and then invite M K into my house to liberate him back to the wild. Her PETA friends are welcome too. They can explain to him how he would be better off in the wild trying to fend off Parvo ,Distemper and Rabies. Oh and let us not forget the West Nile Virus. Gee, How did that get here? A human on a Plane? I think we should outlaw all International Flights.LOL. And hey MK call your Burm 'cause he can "HEAR YOU" LMFAO. THE MONSTER won't hurt the snake but you guys better bring him a soybean burger cause he'll be mighty hungry. WTF!!! Get a FL!
Rithie please go back to "SAVE A COW EAT A VEGETARIAN" or at least a "VEGAN"
There are good vegetarians out there and they know who they are, I bet they will not take offense.
Later, Rob

We all supposedly keep animals in such a crappy environment and don't meet their needs. They are supposedly suffering in our care. So how in the world do we get this?

Government needs to know the Facts. Not Fairy Tales

And here I thought that she actually knew something about reptiles. Jeez I guess anyone can pretend!!

So she abhors the billion dollar exotic pet industry, huh? Then why does she work as a moderator for Kingsnake and make her living peddling cheesy reptile care books?

As long as there are people to buy, exotic animal dealers will cheerfully sell, no matter what the impact is on wild populations or on the animals -- or humans."

Yup, and as long as Melissa continues to sell her iguana care books (that are full of misinformation) at every Petco in the country, kids will continue to purchase them no matter how poorly suited they are as a beginner herp.
....I mean it is called "Iguanas For Dummies"
a better title might be "Iguanas by Hypocrites"