I am not saying I disagreed with the message these gentleman brought to light last night. It was basically the same message, said in different ways.
We ALL know about Tom's past and most have come to accept it and that he has moved on. He is definitely one of the grandfathers of our industry. Aside from the message, and the criminal background there is a LOT of difference between Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Crutchfield. Many will agree that Tom has "paid his dues" so to speak with his contributions to the hobby and by staying out of trouble over the years. He has bred more species for the first time than any other person I can think of, and has managed to remain on the forefront and is generally a respected person in this hobby.
Going by the posts here, alone, Mr. Wilkins has an entirely different image. He sells animals in sub-par conditions, to the wrong people under the wrong circumstances. Why? Because there are NO standards set forth in the state of Ohio stating the conditions of a sale of such an animal. He is vocal about keeping it that way, because that is his business. NOTHING I have read on him has dictated otherwise! I wish I could say there was something positive! He definitely represents the extreme NO REGULATION stance on the hobby.
All we are implying here is that sometimes you do get the WRONG person in the spotlight. He had a lot of beautiful things to say, and many of them were right, but at the end of the day he still has the same muddy reputation. We already know that a lot of hard political battles are won by the "bad guys". However, it does not make any him less unscrupulous because he appears to be on OUR side.
While most people are apt to come up with their own conclusions based on what they hear out of the mouths of other people, it is apparent to me that some listeners do not do any more research beyond what is said, particularly on who is saying it. They hear what they want to hear and run with it.
Another thing that is disconcerting to me is that you are providing listeners with the links to his organization on your FaceBook for people to donate to, when in all reality those same people asking for it would RUN the other way if they had done the simple search on Mr. Wilkins myself and others have. There is a reason he is not getting the money he is needing to get it off the ground- because there is probably not a whole lot of trust there. Would you give him money after reading those things?
Overall, yes, it was a good show. It brought to light most subjects we have been talking about as keepers from all angles- self regulation, government regulation, fighting harder against our legislators, and whatever new tactics can be employed in our battle.
I really did like the show, but I have a hard time coming to grips that a person who has gained most of his notoriety giving out FALSE information with a criminal record is given air time because he is supposedly on "our" side. It was hard finding the many political battles he has supposedly won under all the dirt he has kicked up under his business name!
Never before on the show, in all the episodes I have listened to have I ever encountered a name with such bad press associated with it being construed as some sort of role model because he knows how to boss around politicians. I realize you did not do that intentionally by your above statements, and believe viewers, for the most part are going to sort the facts out by ourselves. While that is true for most of us, it is certainly not true for others.
Let me tell you that I have bossed my own local politicians around. It is NOT hard to make them see eye to eye with you if you SHOW UP and don't take no for an answer, especially if you show up with friends... and your friends' friends. Empowering people, like Terry did on the show was a good thing. However, that is what some of us have been doing for a long time. I'm active in the dog rescue circuit, with pit bulls. I've had to get up on the podium a couple of times to defend the breed or to put forth suggestions for a better ordinance. The first time I did it, I was 17 and very scared. However, just because Terry showed up at several hearings being the lone Representative as a reptile keeper in no way makes him qualified to be one. Just like the opposition, whoever is loud enough and persistent enough will get the prize, and often times money is involved. Make a threat about money and it's on! It doesn't matter how misconstrued the facts are or how much they actually do know. Doesn't the HSUS prove that on a regular basis?
Maybe the reptile community can take a hint from the pit bull community. They are both hopelessly divided among each other (by matter of opinion) and have the same enemy we do... the AR extremist groups. They certainly don't let anyone with profound criminal background speak out for them!
All of us are being inspected by a fine tooth comb here. Better to err on the side of caution than to possibly stick your foot in your mouth and promote someone who should not be promoted- no matter how good the intention.
Most of this is directed at the viewers who became enamored by last night's show, but did NOT know about Terry Wilkins' bad business practices. Those very people might be sending him money when they can get out and do what he is doing with a little self education and mostly for free.
