I think HR669 was designed to get the big chains to the bargaining table. So they can create a "Positive List " With a few modifications they can ruin a large part of the exotic animal trade ( the desired intent ) and make a very profitable deal for themselves and their industry partners. If it looks like it might be practical they will move forward with working on a revised version of HR669. The X factor will be directly linked to how much resistance they receive this time around.

The chains say they want practical and meaningful legislation, AKA protecting their best seller list. They want to gain public trust this will help them to control the negotiating process.

They will work a deal on community type tropical fish , parakeets, finches, pocket pets.
For reptiles ...leopard geckos, bearded dragons, ball pythons Really they could throw out the ball pythons and just sell native snakes rosy boas, kings , corns. 4" turtles. This and a handful of other animals.

The pet business revolves around a very limited number of species and these are the ones that will be negotiated for. If the major players in the live animal trade are allowed to sell their bread and butter items they will agree to anything. Everything else can get thrown under the bus. If they don't sell it they don't care about it. The company's that manufacture all the accessories will also go along.

Never before have activist groups joined forces with members of the pet industry to enact anti trade / ownership laws. This is because there was never a strong enough foundation to work from . Nobody was large enough for the activist organizations to form a partnership with until now. I expected HR 669 to get beat down from day one. To me it's always been about how strong the support will be for a revised version and how quickly they can put it together. I believe lot of that will depend on the how much opposition the current version receives.

Ernie Eison
WESTWOOD ACRES REPTILE FARM INC.

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