When it comes to bills like HR 669 and S373, bills that call for an outright ban on species, what exactly is a reasonable compromise? What segment of the reptile community do we throw under the bus? I don't keep mon itors, so do I say "ok, if you leave pythons alone, we'll give you monitors. You can ban those." Sure, that will help me, for now. But ten years, or 5 years, or 6 months, or two weeks from now, when the next special interest group sits down with some schmuck in DC that wouldn't know what a Burmese python was if it crawled into bed with them, and they decide they're coming after herps again, I'm going to want help from thos monitor people to help protect my rights. I'm going to ask for a hand, and all I'm going to get is a finger-and I couldn't blame them one bit.



I can appreciate what the man is trying to say, but when it comes to bills that propose an outright ban on species, a black list or a white list, or a compromise based on how much money you generate per year breeding your animals, there is no room for compromise. There's a brief article in the new REPTILES about how Tom Wyatt is pushing for a bill in NC that would implement a permitting system for large, potentially dangerous reptiles. This is the type of "compromise" we need to push for-showing people that we are responsible keepers and that we are willing to play by the rules to protect our rights to keep our animals. These permits shoule be on a state level, not a Federal level. There are already several states that have an active, and fairly effective, permitting system. This is what we need to work towards. In regards to bills like HR 669 and S373, again, there is no room for compromise. Compromise in these bills would only serve to alienate members of the reptile community, opening us up to future attacks by special interest groups and politicians, and eventually leading to the downfall of our hobby. All exotic keepers, regardless of what they keep, need to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other and say that we will not stand for any compromise that prevents people from owning the animals that they responsibly keep and breed.

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