>>Ok, perhaps this quote was taken out of context but if not, how in the world can a person with such beliefs be an employee/moderator/associate/whatever at this website? What the heck is going on here?

I spoke to Melissa about this last night, and posted about it on the Herp Law/CITES Forum when someone asked this same question. She said that while she was not misquoted, she was quoted out of context. She was talking about issues like habitat destruction and deforestation, resulting in the discovery of previously unknown species, and the importation on an international level of those species, about which there is no known care information, and no history of keeping these species in captivity. This is the issue she was addressing, which does seem clear from the second part of her quote, but definitely the way it was led into was very misleading.

She was in no way referring to the keeping of, or breeding of, pets in this country. She said, in these exact words, "If I supported a ban on reptiles, I wouldn't have the website I have; my website would be about banning reptiles, instead. I wouldn't have written Iguanas for Dummies, I wouldn't spend time posting on websites, I wouldn't have the animals I have, I wouldn't spend all this time and energy helping people make the decision on what kind of reptile is right for them, if a reptile is right for them in the first place, and how to care for their reptile properly. I believe that when animals are cared for correctly, they greatly enrich our lives."

She also indicated she will be posting a statement to this effect on her own website, www.anapsid.org.

I hope this has clarified this issue.
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Christie Keith
Director of Community Services
PetHobbyist.com

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