Laws banning reptiles!, your state could be next!

Everyone who is interested in reptiles, has a stake in these laws! Please do your best to help "make" a difference.
I am posting this here as I know this is one of the more popular forums, I also posted in USA national issues forum. Sorry if anyone thinks it's "OFF TOPIC" but I would disagree!!!

Proposed law:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A02684&sh=t

Summery of law:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A02684 (easier to read)

link to governor Patacki:
http://161.11.3.75/



The letter I sent
I can't believe that this is even being proposed! It just shows the level of ignorance that some people have. I have a three foot tegu and he is tame as the tamest dog! To think that you would even consider such a law is unbelievable! And included in the list are absolutely harmless "Ball Pythons"? Unreal!!! What law you should be proposing is a law that ignorant people should have to learn about Reptiles and Know them instead of fear them.

Overton Pratt

I think everyone should send a little note to the governor about there thoughts on this matter, remember your state could be next!!!

Write a letter or a simple note to Governor George Patacki voicing your concerns and Copy & Paste them here. (for others to get ideas) It only takes about two minutes!

From what i gathered, the bill is focused on WILD caught specimens of all exotics. Not only reptiles as well. I agree with wild populations being left alone.
I didnt' bother to see if it mentioned Captive breds, bills are so confusing arent' they?

we have 2 eyes, 2 ears and one mouth, we should watch and listen twice as much as we speak*

AND READ!
ok!

thats the problem! It incompasses to wide of a spectrum......in other words there trying to cram everything into one lumped up law and It's just too wide ranging! It will affect all BOIDAE snakes! and sounds like most monitor, if not all.
re-read it!

Recapture of escaped wild animals is an expensive and perilous endeav-
2 or for municipalities. Other states already prohibit private ownership
3 of certain wild animals as pets, a position supported by the United
4 States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Centers for Disease Control
5 (CDC) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). New York
6 must take similar steps to ensure the protection of the public and the
7 humane treatment of wild animals.
8 S 2. Subdivision 6 of section 11-0103 of the environmental conserva-
9 tion law is amended by adding a new paragraph e to read as follows:
10 E. "WILD ANIMAL" SHALL NOT INCLUDE "COMPANION ANIMAL" AS DEFINED IN
11 SECTION THREE HUNDRED FIFTY OF THE AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS LAW. WILD
12 ANIMAL INCLUDES, AND IS LIMITED TO, ANY OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING ORDERS
13 AND FAMILIES:
14 (1) NONHUMAN PRIMATES AND PROSIMIANS,
15 (2) FELIDAE (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF DOMESTICATED AND FERAL CATS, WHICH
16 SHALL MEAN DOMESTICATED CATS THAT WERE FORMERLY OWNED AND THAT HAVE BEEN
17 ABANDONED AND THAT ARE NO LONGER SOCIALIZED, AS WELL AS OFFSPRING OF
18 SUCH CATS), AND HYBRIDS THEREOF,
19 (3) CANIDAE (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF DOMESTICATED DOGS),
20 (4) URSIDAE,
21 (5) ALL REPTILES THAT ARE VENOMOUS BY NATURE, PURSUANT TO DEPARTMENT
22 REGULATION, AND THE FOLLOWING SPECIES AND FAMILIES: BOIDAE FAMILY,
23 ASIATIC (WATER) MONITOR (V. SALVATOR), NILE MONITOR (V. NILOCITUS),
24 WHITE THROAT MONITOR (V. ALBIGULARUS), BLACK THROAT MONITOR (V. ALBIGU-
25 LARUS IONIDES) AND CROCODILE MONITOR (V. SALVADORI) AND ANY HYBRID THER-
26 EOF,
27 (6) CROCODILIA.

I think in places like NY city people shouldn't be keeping 10 foot pythons or large monitor lizards. The law deffenty needs some tweaking but they are on the right track, think about how many of these snakes and monitors get loose in apartment buildings. I think there should be strict laws witch include hours of experience and photo licenses to keep and breed these XXL species of potentially dangerous Lizards and snakes. don't ban them regulate them. Dont make them available at every corner pet shop. and make it so that neighbors will be notified of these types of animals being kept.

I know we all lover our herps, but some times these laws are needed, when people are keeping gators in their bath tubs. and when a 10 foot burm gets loose and turns up in a neighbors apartment. and if anyone has any experience with large monitors, they are escape artists so if you do not qualify and know the proper way to care and house your animal should you really be able to buy one? And im sure even hard-core herpes would agree with this, safety and care of the animals and the people around them are a priority.

But on the other hand I feel like this law was made not to keep people and animals safe but to save the money it is costing the city/state to capture escaped animals.

Well I did write to the governor but I will not post the letter simply because I do not feel the need to.

Overton I respect your choice to take part in the overall system and email the office of the governer but I have to mention the fact that your particular email will not get too much accomplished. I strongly feel that you wont get anything done by sending an email accusing people of being ignorant (even if they are) and basically flying off the handle.

I am not pointing this out to be a jackass I think you are trying to do good by sending the letter but you should state some solid facts to make your case. Simply saying that you have this one monitor that has not brought harm to anyone is no good man. The issue is that some have caused issue someplace and this is why they are on the list. Hell I dont see too many babies being choked by pythons but I am sure one was someplae and that is all a stuck up lawer needs to start writing a law.

Anyway all I am getting at is think before you type, a real thought and email will go a lot farther than a rushed rant at a law.

Im sure your right!....But something is better than nothing! We can sit back and do nothing, and one day look back and say....hmmmmm? I wish I would have done something back then! But of course It's way harder to repeal laws than stop them in the first place. And Ya...Mine defiantly sounds kinda harsh, but that's the whole point of giving others a better Idea on how & what to write in the first place! And it really doesn't matter if you put it down on paper or not, I really could care less, just if you feel it's wrong ...DO SOMETHING!!!

Have a great day and....Oh look! there's a guy outside your door, who wants to speak to you about your "Illegal Ball Python"!

You are no doubt correct and often times these laws slip through without anyone seeing them. Though I doubt they will be sending the SWAT team to your door because you have a ball python. Regardless it is a POS law and hopefully more people wrote to petaki about it. I doubt that it will pass in its current form in any case. Of course I am no politician so who the hell knows.

But on the other hand I feel like this law was made not to keep people and animals safe but to save the money it is costing the city/state to capture escaped animals.

Nope... As a reptile lover myself I see why states have to get tougher:Irresponsible breeders and insensitive collectors are to blame.

Connecticut has very strict laws. Like, you can own a single Eastern box turtle but it can't be wild caught. Before you bring reptiles into the state you need a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection's Wildlife Division. But at this time, they aren't issuing any. There is a list of endangered and threatened species but what you can house as a pet is not limited to that. Like, you can't have crocodilians for pets in my state but they aren't in those endangered lists.

Now I change hats and speak as a DEP employee myself. I take press and public calls all day. You could not believe how much harm invasive species are causing to our endemic plants and animals! In another post I wrote about a woman calling the other day to report what turned out to be a constrictor in her backyard's pool! In Connecticut!

Now, these stricter laws are trying to limit what some owners do when they get tired of the animal that outgrows the tank: Abandonement in the wild! Some breeders move on to "other projects" and the poor critters suffer for it. Others get rid of them before spending money on a reptile veterinarian, maybe because their animals sell for far less than the cost of a visit and treatments. The poor animals can't always find homes for adoption. So what many irresponsible and insensitive people do is, assume the animals will do fine out by themselves in the wild. The few that make it end up as invasives that displace endemic species. Others bring on diseases and maladies to local fauna.

So, come on now, as responsible reptile owners what we have to do is all we can to eliminate that harm done to animals and the environment! And sadly, not everyone who owns animals is responsible enough to care for them, for life.

For the sake of the wildlife I love and admire, I am willing to support restrictions imposed to control what some irresponsible people are doing. They only have themselves to blame:eek3:
That being my honest opinion, let the flamin' begin...


Wanda

This is one of the reasons it is so important to become a member of PIJAC (Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council). This organization lobbies and acts as our advocate for this very thing. We ALL can have a voice which will be heard!

PIJAC LINK