Here's a link to an article on the HSUS website explaining their reasons for wanting to ban constricting snakes in Indiana.



http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/the_humane_society_of_the_indiana_python.html



The reason I bring this to your attention is because I believe (from another post) that they’re the ones who authored this bill for Senator Sipes and to the best of my knowledge aren’t affiliated in any way with the Humane Society that most of us are familiar with.



The same logic used in this article applies to ANY animal kept as a pet, most of which are “potentially” far more dangerous than Ball Pythons and Boas. How many marine animals have died as a result of inexperienced keepers? Or cats, dogs, birds, farms animals and on and on... Yet you can still purchase any of those and other high maintenance animals in almost any pet store.



The fact of the matter is the majority of people with pets don't have the proper experience or knowledge to care for the animal to begin with regardless of what type it is, and as a result, the many are punished because of the few that don't care to figure it out. In another article they wrote about the man in Indianapolis who was bitten by one of his 15 venomous snakes and they claim that prohibiting these types of animals would’ve prevented that situation from occurring; but there’s already a permit system in place for class III animals and he circumvented it making their whole point moot. But they still want to punish all of us for the actions of just a handful of irresponsible people.



It's my opinion that as much as HSUS would like to ban keeping any animal as a pet but know they can't do so and have instead identified one of the smaller and less understood groups of pet owners so they can then write in their newsletters "look what we've done". What they will in fact do if they're successful is flood the market with hundreds, if not thousands of animals, since the majority of us don't want to take the chance we'll be charged with a crime or simply can’t afford to pay $100 for every animal we own (under the current system Class III permits have to be renewed every year and all of your adjacent neighbors are notified in writing by the DNR and given the opportunity to comment on the application process). They will in fact exacerbate the very problem they are trying to prevent.



I realize that I’m just complaining but it upsets me that we have to defend ourselves against an unjust policy based on a flawed argument. If this passes, and they can or do ban pythons and boas, next year it’ll be lizards, then fish, and so on until you can’t have any pets at all. I’ve already written to all the members of the Senate NRC and I’m preparing letters for the House NRC. I’ll also send a letter to Governor Daniels and I suggest everyone else does the same as I’m sure there are many people out there who stand to lose just as much, if not more, than I do if this comes to pass.

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