Inquiry USARK/Andrew Wyatt, What's the story?

[meowmeowkazoo]

Sarah,

Do a little homework and look into USARKS financial records. Gary is the chair of USARKS board and Zoomed donated many thousands of dollars to USARK they are the biggest donor to USARK by a huge landslide.

I was not referring to whether or not ZooMed was donating, I was referring to your statement:

I feel it's actually a good thing that Zoomed is taking over sort of.

If Phil left his position at ZooMed, then ZooMed isn't exactly taking over USARK.

 

[Lucille]

I hope USARK does not get judged based on this situation. I've had some people tell me that after reading this thread they have become reluctant and one even told me this morning they are not going to donate to USARK anymore. I hope that USARK thrives and grows beyond this. I believe we really need them to survive whether we own a pet shop or just want to keep one boa as a pet. Without an organization like USARK that one boa may not be possible anymore. Our opponents have made it clear they intend to legally remove every exotic animal and plant out of our hands. I couldn’t imagine a world where our only exposure to a reptile/amphibian is in on a television screen and make no qualms about it that’s what HSUS and the likes want.

This thread was started by me because I was and am infuriated with what happened to Ken. I think Ken is a pretty nice guy and I hate that he was treated the way he was. I have no respect for any of those who did him wrong.

We do need an organization to help speak for us. Gary Bagnall sounds like a pretty cool guy, I hope he visits us here and says hello and gets to know the site.
Warren Booth deserves a lot of respect too for coming here and posting.

I think USARK deserves a chance to show us what they got.

When Andrew annouced the Herp Alliance, and he and Walsh spewed their lies on Herp Nation, I could wait no longer. I needed to let everyone know what these people are truly about. Reptile people are my friends and colleagues. I could not stand by and watch people from MY industry and hobby throw money at these lying bastards. These people have no ethics, and will obviously do anything to anyone to further their own personal, warped goals. Don't support them. Please. Support USARK, please. And PJAC. They are our last best hope for our industry. And support NRAAC too. It's a great source of information, and we need that so desperate too. And please, PJAC, NRAAC and USARK, let's all work togther. Can you imagine what we can do if these three work together as one? They all bring something a bit different to the table, and combined can be a very powerful force for our way of life.

Receipt from USARK for Lucille Hollander

Thanks for joining our efforts to protect your right to own and trade in reptiles in the United States. We greatly appreciate your support.

Organization: United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK)

 

[Shadera]

+1 for you Lucille!

Payday is tomorrow, I'll be renewing then.

 

[Jay Sommers Reptiles]

I was not referring to whether or not ZooMed was donating, I was referring to your statement:



If Phil left his position at ZooMed, then ZooMed isn't exactly taking over USARK.

I am not going to argue semantics. I said sort of. And if the midwest sales rep is now president and the owner of Zoo med is the cair of the board I would say zoo med sort of is in charge of USARK.

As far as my statement about "funding" I would say that Zoomed donating $100,000.00 in 2010 and again in 2011 is funding USARK or is at a minimum helping to fund in a huge way.

So I am not sure why you are nit picking my choice of words

 

[Lucille]

They have this great deal:


Bronze Sustaining Member – Individual ($5/month)

Receive newsletter
2 USARK T-shirts

So I signed up using Paypal and it said the first charge would not be until February And I get two Tshirts
I can donate more as time goes on and we see evidence of performance. Plus I'm hoping we can volunteer our labor and skills too, if the new USARK is what I hope it is, participation can mean more than just funding.

I'm hoping 100 people sign up today. Giving them a chance means just that, after what went down they will have to work hard to build trust and show performance. But they can have my $5/month to help keep the lights on while they do that.

 

[meowmeowkazoo]

I am not going to argue semantics. I said sort of. And if the midwest sales rep is now president and the owner of Zoo med is the cair of the board I would say zoo med sort of is in charge of USARK.

As far as my statement about "funding" I would say that Zoomed donating $100,000.00 in 2010 and again in 2011 is funding USARK or is at a minimum helping to fund in a huge way.

So I am not sure why you are nit picking my choice of words

I wasn't nit-picking your choice of words, I was clarifying the reasoning behind my earlier post. Apparently your post about ZooMed "sort of" taking over USARK gave a different impression than you intended, so no worries.

 

[meowmeowkazoo]

They have this great deal:


Bronze Sustaining Member – Individual ($5/month)

Receive newsletter
2 USARK T-shirts

So I signed up using Paypal and it said the first charge would not be until February And I get two Tshirts
I can donate more as time goes on and we see evidence of performance. Plus I'm hoping we can volunteer our labor and skills too, if the new USARK is what I hope it is, participation can mean more than just funding.

I'm hoping 100 people sign up today. Giving them a chance means just that, after what went down they will have to work hard to build trust and show performance. But they can have my $5/month to help keep the lights on while they do that.

I went ahead and signed up for the Bronze membership as well. $5 a month isn't much at all, and I really want the reptile community to have a strong advocate against HSUS and PETA. I have to admit I still have some reservations, but I am hopeful that with Andrew and Erika gone, USARK will become much more effective.

 

[Shadera]

I'm hoping 100 people sign up today. Giving them a chance means just that, after what went down they will have to work hard to build trust and show performance. But they can have my $5/month to help keep the lights on while they do that.

Heck, didn't know they were offering that. I went ahead and signed up today. Told them not to bother with the t-shirts (I already have a couple). So just on this page alone, that's three of us.

Great work guys, maybe we can inspire others to give this a go.

While other folks haven't been so honest, The folks answering for USARK now have been pretty open and are answering questions. I too still have some reservations about PIJAC and their connection to H$U$, but am willing to at least give them a chance. If anyone hasn't heard of them yet, GRAIN is also showing some promise.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/GrainGlobalReptileAmphibianInvertebrateNetwork

 

[Lucille]

I signed up using Paypal and it said the first charge would not be until February

Correction, first recurring payment in February, they took the first $5 today.

OK we have 2 signed up today, where's the other 98 of y'all?

 

[Jay Sommers Reptiles]

I wasn't nit-picking your choice of words, I was clarifying the reasoning behind my earlier post. Apparently your post about ZooMed "sort of" taking over USARK gave a different impression than you intended, so no worries.

It gave the exact impression I intended. I wasn't addressing any of your posts i was addressing Rodneys points and the talk around town that is going on in the hobby.A lot of people are expressing concerns about Zoo Meds "controlling interests" in USARK. I am just pointing out that I think it's a good thing and if others want to have the same power then maybe they can drop a hundred grand per year and have the same influence.

 

[Lucille]

Looks around the crowd to see who has $5 in their pocket....

 

[Lucille]

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1565634#post1565634

 

[chongorojo]

97 more. With THIS new president I'm in!

 

[Wilomn]

if others want to have the same power then maybe they can drop a hundred grand per year and have the same influence.

Do you see the flaw in your logic?

 

[Crypt keeper]

Sorry, but Rodney will not be participating here for the next two years. After a profanity laced PM and then a threat made towards me personally, he is gone.

what did he threaten you with Exactly? is this an assumption or did he actually say he will harm you?

 

[Jay Sommers Reptiles]

Do you see the flaw in your logic?

It's not my logic, it's a fact.When you donate $100,000.00 per year you get to have more say than an individual who pays $5 a month. What flaw are you refering to? USARK is not a democracy and even if it was I don't have the ability to sway votes by my elected officials in our own government but if I had enough money to donate more to their election campaigns than any other individual they would give me more time and pay more attention to what I have to say. Not logic,i am not arguing philosophical viewpoints.I am merely saying that money talks, and in the real world you can't expect to get the same influence at $1000.00 a year as you get with $100,000.00

 

[fangme]

So the way I see it is usark is now just a entity of zoomed ... And I'm not happy about that. I deal with Large pythons zoomed doesn't make money off large constrictors they make there money off of people with ball pythons, geckos, bearded dragon ect... So what vested stake do they have in fighting for the large animals. Please show me evidence there going to help individuals with the large constrictors I know boas will be fine because the new pres breeds them.

 

[Jay Sommers Reptiles]

You can look at the last 3 years as evidence that Zoo med doesn't push their influence. All the money that Zoo med has put in and Gary is Head of the board.This is not some new change it has been this way for a while. In fact it is the rest of the hobby that has been neglected in the past 3 years not vice versa.All with Zoomed being the largest donor and Gary being head of the board. It's time the rest of us got some help.Noone is going to stop fighting for big snakes.Where does this thought process come from?It is just speculation and the facts and USARKS history contradict your concerns.

 

[Ken Foose]

I have to agree with Jay. Large constrictors, though very important to the hobby and industry, are getting the lions share of the attention both from the media, our enemies and our benifactors. We fight big snake bans all over the place, as we should. How about the turtle ban in Tennessee? Or the proposed national amphibian ban? Not too much mention of these problems, but they are here, now.

USARK is committed to protecting the keeping of all herps. This is their statement, and I have no reason to doubt their word. I don't know how many people applied for the job as prez of of USARK. And frankly, it's none of my business. They chose a president from the pool of people they had to work with. I've known Phil for a very long time. He's a good man. And he's one of us. Look, if I'd been picked to be president of USARK ( I did not apply and was never asked or considered) there would be people that would complain that because I'm the owner of a pet store that private hobbiest would be ignored. If a zoo person got chosen, there would be those that would say that the private sector would be ignored. So we have Phil, who has experience in every facet of our industry, private breeder, pet stores, wholesaler, distributor. What more can you ask, really? All the rest of the stuff he MIGHT not know will come in time. How can you not even give him a chance? The fact that he used to work for the largest benefactor of USARK is just the icing on the cake. Phil, our president, has the big mans ear.

I'm going to give him the chance to succeed. Or fail. But either way, he deserves a chance. We gave Andrew a chance for about 5 years. What did that really get us? Doesn't seem like much to me.

 

[Tim Cole]

I have to agree with Jay. Large constrictors, though very important to the hobby and industry, are getting the lions share of the attention both from the media, our enemies and our benifactors. We fight big snake bans all over the place, as we should. How about the turtle ban in Tennessee? Or the proposed national amphibian ban? Not too much mention of these problems, but they are here, now.

USARK is committed to protecting the keeping of all herps. This is their statement, and I have no reason to doubt their word. I don't know how many people applied for the job as prez of of USARK. And frankly, it's none of my business. They chose a president from the pool of people they had to work with. I've known Phil for a very long time. He's a good man. And he's one of us. Look, if I'd been picked to be president of USARK ( I did not apply and was never asked or considered) there would be people that would complain that because I'm the owner of a pet store that private hobbiest would be ignored. If a zoo person got chosen, there would be those that would say that the private sector would be ignored. So we have Phil, who has experience in every facet of our industry, private breeder, pet stores, wholesaler, distributor. What more can you ask, really? All the rest of the stuff he MIGHT not know will come in time. How can you not even give him a chance? The fact that he used to work for the largest benefactor of USARK is just the icing on the cake. Phil, our president, has the big mans ear.

I'm going to give him the chance to succeed. Or fail. But either way, he deserves a chance. We gave Andrew a chance for about 5 years. What did that really get us? Doesn't seem like much to me.

Thanks Ken! Nicely written.