North Carolina state law issues

I spoke with my senator Harry Brown today and he wants me to gather facts and statistics on animal related deaths and injurys so he can help stop this bill, if anyone has anything that may help post it here and I will make sure he gets it.

There's some people working on specific statistics now. I'll relay them when they are done.
I can say this, the only human fatalities due to boids involve only four species, retics, burms, anacondas, and rock pythons. Amethistyne (sp?) pythons may have a death somewhere, but I have no data on that.
There has never been a recorded fatality from any other species including the common boa constrictors.
While the possibility exists that a small child could be killed by several of the other species, that possibility is so remote that it cannot justify their being banned. Add to this the fact it has never happened yet so there is not even a precedence.
To my knowledge there is also not a single recorde human fatality from gilas or beaded lizards. These lizards, even though venomous, are slow and deliberate animals and not agressive. It only takes a minimum of precaution to avoid ever being bitten at all from either of these lizards. There is really no justification in their being banned either.

I have alot of confidence that the boid clause will at least be amended. The much harder fight will be with the crocodillians, and venomous snakes.
You have to admit, it's real tough to make an argument to justify their being kept in the private sector despite the fact that it can be done very safely and is enjoyed by many people.
A blanket ban on vipers however is unreasonable. Several species such as eyelash vipers, rock rattlers, pygmies, etc, are not that dangerous at all with respect to the potential of being bitten and the possibility of death in the rare event of a bite. In fact, with the possible exception of the Mojave and perhaps the EDB, none of our rattlers are particularly life threatening to a healthy adult with the use of antivenin. Not when compared to elapids, or many of the exotic species.
I would at least like to see a reasonable permit system in place for them as opposed to a complete ban.

I'm afraid we'll never get out of this with no legislation at all, but that will be the goal. Ideally reptiles should be dropped from this bill entirely. They are so different from what the bill is truly concerned with that they cannot be adequately addressed when lumped in with lions, tigers, and bears. So much of the wording is obviously aimed at mammals, it has no relevance when applied to reptiles.

Hey guys, if there is anything i can do, let me know...Ive spread the word through the student herp club here at state and it raised some eyebrows....Im limited on what time i can put in on this, but im willing to help out.

I think the main thing here is to present these lawmakers with statistics and facts. I emailed all the senators yesterday with some facts from the CDC on the injury/deaths of people killed by dogs and other animals as compared to those injured/killed by reptiles. The difference is so obvious in the numbers. The main thing is, if you email these people, state facts, be calm, and present your side rationally. Some of them will listen, and I hold out some hope of the reptile part of the bill being amended. Thanks for all those who are willing to help. I would be just as quick to help those in other states if it weren't NC. Clay, if there's anything else I can do, please let me know. Also, I am putting a written petition in my shop and have been assured there will also be one at the door of the Raleigh show at the end of April. That should be good for 10,000+ signatures.

Right now one thing you could do, you having a shop, is to get the phone number and email of your local senator and pass that on to any herper customers that come in and encourage them to contact him concerning this.
If one senator were to get one or two hundred of his voters opposing the bill he will definately take that response seriously.
Elected officials normally look at every constituent as representing a few more than himself with the same opinion. They assume for every person that takes the initiave to contact them there are probably so many others who feel the same way, but didn't take the trouble to voice their opinion.

The chances are while lobby groups such as the humane society will be pushing for the legislation, not to many citizens will bother to call in in support of it.
Speaking of which, we can fully expect to be fighting the HSUS if not Peta on this. The HSUS has gotten involved in every other case of this legislation so far and have always been putting their weight behind it. While their statement is always that they want the keeping of the big cats etc regulated, we all know they do not support the keeping of reptiles in any way. They will definately be our biggest enemy on this one.
We can expect them to bring up their twisted numbers that paint the picture they want them to and the rest of their misleading "facts" to get this bill passed with as many restrictions as possible.

Senator Brown was very interested in how many people this would affect in this county and how many breeders there are in this county. He also wanted to know how many breeders it would affect and said "I'm against anything that hurts a business".

I'm not in your county, but it would definately hurt my business and many other breeders statewide.
Will Leary would be hit hard if the bill passed as is, he specializes in carpet pythons, so if he would either have to move or be out of business.
Every pet shop in the state that sells reptiles would be affected. No more burmese, or boa constrictors, both popular pet store animals. (I personally don't think burms have any place in a pet shop, but that's beside the point).
The two raleigh shows would be seriously affected. Many things would no longer be allowed to be sold.
There's also a breeder in NC who specializes in eyelash vipers and produces some amazing animals.
None of this even includes the many private or part time breeders who are quietly breeding for wholesale purposes and are not well known by the general public.
It would be impossible to place a figure on the collective financial damage the reptile portion of the bill would create.
This is another reason why they should not even be included in the bill. How many full time lion breeders are in NC? Are there even any? People very rarely make a living breeding or selling any of the exotic mammals mentioned, but breeding reptiles for profit is very common although a largely unknown industry to most lawmakers.

Ok guys hate to say this but I will. I just got done fighting this same ordinance in Davidson county. And I mean the same one word from word. You can email these people all day long. They don't care. The thing is someone who has a strong and calm head needs to go there and show these crazy people that they don't know what they are talking about. They don't know what is what. Believe me been there done that. The insurance on this is unreal. No one will cover any of these animals if you have them. They know that. This is going to be a mess if it does pass. Luckly Davidson has not pushed it. They can come in your house anytime they want when you get a permit for any animal you have. I want to know how they are going to pay people to come out to every house and check on them. Isn't NC broke enough without adding more. We are taxed to death as it is. I will be there till the end fighting for what I have. I just hope there is enough people out there who are willing to do the same.
Have a great day!!!!!!
Shawn Walker

Clay, I am going to send you some information in a PM that I hope will be helpful to you. I have the names and phone numbers, with emails addresses for every representative from all surrounding counties for my shop that will be on a separate sheet for people to take home with them. My shop is the only reptile business within a 200 mile radius, and I get people from all over. If you decide to go to Raleigh to address the assembly, I will be more than happy to mail you the signed petition to take with you. If there's anything else, please let me know. I am going to include my address and phone in case anyone needs to contact me with suggestions.

Sheri Vernon
Piedmont Reptile & Aquatics, Inc.
10418D North Main Street
Archdale, NC 27263
336-861-3370

This isn't going to affect breeders only. This will affect the private individual who owns these animals and will have their everyday life affected by this.
You would be amazed at how many of the listed mammals there are in this state. The lions, tigers, etc... require a federal permit anyway, but targeting the smaller mammals is not fair. I worked with the prairie dogs owners when the prairie dog ban went into effect. We submitted a petition from over 1,000 praire dog owners in this state. There weren't as many gambian owners here, but there were more than I realized.
I know that Cliff always sells the coatimundi, kinkajou and wallabies at the Raleigh shows. These do not require a federal permit.
I can understand wanting to have the truly dangerous animals registered, just in case an animal escapes and gets caught. It would help return the animal to the owner.
I don' t like the loopholes that are placed in this bill, and I don't like the government trying to invade our privacy and control us. This isn't the first time Garwood has tried this and I sure hope it gets shot down.