Posted by:
Aaron
at Fri Feb 19 01:34:44 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Aaron ]
Ball pythons are not included in this ban but they were included in a previous, very similar bill that attempted to ban the import and interstate transport of all pythons. Public response caused that bill to die but it was follwed by the current proposal regarding the "big 9", which I think is not as bad but still not very good. The point here is that protest forced the creation of a new version that is better.
I am not against regulating the hobby, whether it be to protect the public, the environment or populations of wild herps. I just think there have been too many times where the laws marginalize hobbyists. I think the python issue is the biggest yet, in terms of the numbers of hobbyists this will impact. Because of the huge numbers of hobbyists that will be affected there is no better time than now to start requiring our legislators come up with better laws. If we don't do it now the hobby is just going to be that much weaker when we loose the python people. I want to stress that I am not saying no regulations are needed but they should be better ones.
I don't want giant or potentially invasive species in the hands of unqualified persons either, in areas where they present a real danger but I think there are more reasonable and effective ways to accomplish this than the current proposal.
I don't own, or plan to own, any of these snakes but what I get from this law is an 'oh crap they are doing it again' feeling. Which is to say I feel like they are taking a legitamate problem and trying to solve it with a bad law and in the process totally ingoring the herp keeping community.
[ Hide Replies ]
|
RE: USF&W to add "Big 9" to Lacey Act - Aaron, Fri Feb 19 01:34:44 2010