Hi fellow boa enthusiasts,



One of my new years resolutions this year is to be move involved. I’d like to kick up my involvement in the fight to keep our reptiles. I am also a procrastinator, so by posting this here I am motivating myself to accomplish this goal.



I would like your feedback, advice and assistance in my S373 plan of action. Lots of research has already been done on the facts and instead of me re-doing all of that research I’m hoping some of you may be able to provide links or works of reference that I can cite.



I plan to set up a meeting if possible with Senator Barbara Boxer here in CA. My first question about this is the timing. From what I have seen through posts on here, S373 is most likely on hold moving forward until after the holidays. When do you think would be the best time for me to set up this meeting? 2nd, 3rd week of January? Sometime in February?



My plan was to go in with a little presentation, with literature, maybe a couple poster-board graphs and some pictures. I know, very low-tech, but I don’t even have a PC at home right now (only online at work for the short time being), so a fancy PowerPoint presentation is out of my reach. Do you think I would be better off trying to do a PP presentation or would handmade graphs and the like make a bigger impact showing more work and effort?



I want to have some good talking points to present to her. Here is the list of items I have come up with so far that I want to present, please feel free to give feedback or offer ideas!



1) The economical impact the loss of interstate commerce, import and export would have on the python/boa community as well as ancillary businesses. I hope USARK will have some data and figures I can cite for this.

2) How this is based on a centralized issue in Florida, where there are already laws against releasing non-native animals (and mentioning other states that already have enacted similar laws). I’d like to have a list of states that prohibit releasing non-native species and a list of states that have state-wide permitting or registering systems for reptiles (do any states have this or is it only at the county/city level?)

3) The issue of Hurricane Andrew vs. people releasing pets. Does anyone have good solid reference about the genetic studies that were done to determine a lot of the snakes being found in the everglades were related? Also the data regarding accurate numbers of ‘wild’ burms/boas/etc being found/captured in the everglades.

4) Debunking the USGS map showing how invasive the species would be. I plan to cite the NatGeo report http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2009/12/547.html

5) Graph showing actual fatalities attributed to snakes over the last 10 years. Comparing to fatalities from horses and dogs (taking into account the # of households that keep those animals). Showing that there have been no deaths associated with boa constrictor/anaconda species. Showing how the majority (if not all?) deaths were to the actual keeper themselves or their immediate family, which does not pose a real threat to the general public. Possibly acknowledge that these are wild, potentially dangerous creatures that need proper husbandry, care and respect. Explain that the poor choices of a few irresponsible keepers should not devastate this hobby/business for the thousands of good responsible keepers.

6) Explaining my love and fascination with these species. How educational presentations impart a respect for nature and the cycle of life to children.

7) Showing photos of people enjoying their pets?



I would ask her for her honest thoughts and any questions about the issues. Thank her for her time and ask that she please consider all the facts when making her final decision. Followed up with a letter again going over the key points.



I am not a very good public speaker but this is something I am very passionate about and I want to help. I also plan to draft form letters to have my family and co-workers sign to send off to all involved with this flawed legislation.



So, please offer feedback if you can or share with me links or references with good facts that I can use. I want to go into this with lots of hard facts and figures, not just opinions. I would really appreciate any and all help with this. I will not have access online until I return to work but I look forward to coming back here in a week’s time to go over all the other posts that other people have made on the subject and really dig in to the feedback and resources to get this going. If you would prefer to contact me directly, my email address is hisba at yahoo dot com.



Thank you so much for your time and assistance, together we can fight this and win!

-April

please support USARK




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'There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."' -Rainshadow

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