is usark scamming the reptile industry

Can we get a screenshot or something for USARK's financials?

Originally Posted by rodneynboalich

i see you dont want to respond to daves questions.

Fine I will respond. Who gets to define safe and unsafe? Well I don't want it to be Wilkins or Rodney or the like. At this point I am more of an authority on safe and unsafe handling of reptiles than probably anyone in my legislature. So if they question me, they better bring some real experts.

Originally Posted by rodneynboalich

dude if your getting sued you do not want the prosecutor to have any extra rhetorical leeway in law interpretation. i dont know why you would think thats a good idea.

If I was getting sued, why would there be a prosecutor? I think your knowledge of our criminal and civil court systems are lacking.

Originally Posted by rodneynboalich

the best way to fight all of these is in a court room

So you want to fight these in a court room? would that be Civil or criminal court?

Originally Posted by rodneynboalich

see for a law to get passed it has to good through a lot of committees and subcommittees and thats where we need to be fighting them. you can have hearings with these committees and thats your best bet to defeat bans.

I agree one hundred percent. We should have someone testifying on our behalf on these hearings


Oh wait. Isn't that what UARK already does?
http://www.usark.org/uploads/CA%20Fi...0Testimony.pdf
http://www.usark.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=118
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...129775853.html

Originally Posted by edf01

Its illegal to keep venomous snakes in Pottstown. If word got out I had a copperhead ( Which I dont- just using an example) and the police or animal control wants to check out my house- they eventually will have a warrent to check my house. This is already in act, not something USARK is suddenly pushing. The cops and such can't just barge in- pushing you aside right away, but if they want and feel they have the proof to search your home, they will get that warrent and see for themselves. And if you are breaking the law- if i had a copperhead in my house- and they find it, its gonna be taken because it is not legal and i was breaking the law.

The thing is if they think you have a copperhead - even if you don't - and they are granted access, their actions may not be limited to taking a copperhead. In all likelihood, if you have a northern watersnake or an eastern milksnake (or anything else with a passing likeness to a copperhead), your animals would be confiscated.....note that I didn't say "the copperhead" or "the snake that looked like a copperhead". There have been numerous examples over the years where law enforcement comes in for one reason & ends up taking all the animals PENDING INVESTIGATION. Now, odds are that they don't have the facilities or knowledge to properly care for them - and they may, or may not, get them placed with an able keeper - but are they liable for monetary losses you suffer as a result of their action?

I have a right to keep my snakes, but I also have the RESPONSIBILITY to ensure its safety as well as the neighbors small pets. My neighbors have the right to not have their dog eaten by my snake- and having escape proof enclosures ensures this.

This is an interesting one...I wonder how many legal types would consider keeping snakes a right. I understand where you are coming from...but I don't think the statement holds any more water than Rodney's assertion that he has the right to use vulgar language on this site.

I see your point about where will it stop if we allow new legislation- however, certain events have pushed this wanted ban on effect- and i don't see how refusing to change will not be a better option then letting our state representatives just go with a ban instead of letting them know of other options.

Law is a growing thing. The whole concept of legislation for public safety has gotten way out of hand; and, as a nation, we are grossly over-legislated...and once there is existing legislation, it seems like such a small thing to just tweak it to fix this or that problem. Of course, as a people (this is not reptile specific), we aren't smart enough to regulate ourselves.....so it can be argued that somebody has to do it

.I wonder how many legal types would consider keeping snakes a right

None. I mean, USARK or whoever can employ lawyers that'll argue for it, but legally speaking? it's not a right. That doesn't mean we cna't fight for it, and argue laws against it are pointless; not all actions are a "right" even if there's no good reason to ban them.

if they are having to go somewhere not local to help defend our rights, I have no problem with their hotel rooms being comped. My mom goes away on business trips- and she dont have to pay for her room.

True; but 12,000/ in hotel rooms? Holy crap, that's a lot of nice hotels. I'm not terribly familiar with hotel rates in DC but that's making me rethink the size of any donations I may make to USARK. it's an average of 35/day in a hotel--at least in my part of the world you can get a decent hotel for like 50 bucks a night. I don't expect them to stay in Motel 6 but I'm really kind of curious about that amount.

I like the idea of USARK; I think they've done a fair amount of good. But I have to admit to some concern about the financials. They're not a screaming red flag at this point to me, but definetly warrant some further inspection.

In a large city, especially one like DC, anything outside of a "no tell motel" is gonna be $100 plus. $12k isn't that bad as I know how much time Andrew spends on the road. I also know Andrew well enough that I seriously doubt he's staying in the lap of luxury.

Chris

How do we compare guns to snakes. it takes an action from a person to pull a trigger to make a gun fire. A snake is always wild even if they are captive bred and raised they are all unpredictable. no one can predict a snake bite they are random at best.

Although I believe people have the right to own reptiles I think when you get into venemous there should be a way to verify the peson has a clue to what they are doing with husbandry and the proper safe handeling. I do not think you should be able to walk into a public show and have no credentials and purchase a cobra for $150. I ask in this case who is held responsable for putting not only the individual that bought the snake but the general public?

Originally Posted by rodneynboalich

i would like to hears peoples opinions on this. after looking at their 2010 financial report and seeing that $12,000 was spent on hotels and $150,000 lobbying i think they are not what they say they are.

Other than this you are repeating yourself from the 10 page back and forth you had before your temporary ban. No point in restarting that despite your attempting to do so here on the BOI.
So what do you expect them to do, sleep in their car(s) or travel on their own dime? The reason they have been so effective is because of the amount spent on lobbying.
Try looking up your buddy Terry Wilkin's group and where donations he received went. Or try doing the same think USARK has done on your dime.
This is totally frivolous and asinine. It's no secret you despise the ARK Rodney and you have a personal issue with it. You are no friend to the Reptile Nation and you make that evident at every post.
Perhaps I should start a BOI thread myself.
I'll call it
"Has Rodney Boalich' smear campaign taken advantage of Fauna privileges?"

I once had no clue who Wilkins was.
Some dude told me that I am clueless for supporting Andrew and USARK.
He stated Terry Wilkins has done more for this hobby than Andrew ever did.
So I did a little research.

The results showed quite the opposite to me.
I am proud to have Andrew and the Barkers and other members of the community representing me in front of legislators and committees.

Terry and his group? Not so much.

I would probably give more weight to the OPs statements. If they wre coherently written. And if they did not reak of Terry Wilkins.

Come to think of it..... Where is Terry Wilkins? What has he done for our industry?

Originally Posted by HerpVenue

I once had no clue who Wilkins was.
Some dude told me that I am clueless for supporting Andrew and USARK.
He stated Terry Wilkins has done more for this hobby than Andrew ever did.
So I did a little research.

The results showed quite the opposite to me.
I am proud to have Andrew and the Barkers and other members of the community representing me in front of legislators and committees.

Terry and his group? Not so much.

I would probably give more weight to the OPs statements. If they wre coherently written. And if they did not reak of Terry Wilkins.

Come to think of it..... Where is Terry Wilkins? What has he done for our industry?

You've done the research apparently, so why don't you just tell us.