Posted by:
Ravenspirit
at Fri Feb 11 23:44:17 2011 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Ravenspirit ]
"Our reptile rescue receives weekly calls for unwanted alligators, which cannot be kept properly for more than a few years in our climate."
The same could be said of Sulcata Tortoises, no? Its not really that hard to manage Alligators, and just requires space and dedication by a keeper who wants to put in the effort. There are people in the state of PA keeping Alligators and doing a good job of it. Same with PA & Sulcatas & Leopard Tortoises, and so on.
I've had a female American Alligator for over 10 years now, and she is a healthy wonderful animal to work with. I am glad that this is about the sale of and not possession of, so that at least the plan was not to strip your fellow PA herp keepers of the rights to possession of our current animals. I do not support the ban to sell these animals at all.
I had agreed with you before (years ago now) that a micro chipping situation IN THE HANDS OF HERPERS to help police ourselves to be able to identify animals that have been released would be a good idea, for all the "biggies" - ALL Crocodilians, large Varanids, Large Constrictors, Hots and so on, but I am aware that would be difficult to implement. I also know once government gets involved it often becomes a real complicated mess, so I don't have an answer for you.
At least as far as crocodilians go, American Alligators are know for having often having mellow dispositions & they are hardy even in (reasonably) cooler temps during the winter. While I understand as a rescue you get sick of seeing them as throw away animals, no reptile in the hobby is exempt, and if you want to ban via pure volume of animals dumped, why aren't iguanas & red eared sliders on that list too? (or is it just a matter of time...)
On the "protecting human safety" end of things, there have been no fatal attacks by a captive crocodilian here in the states, but there have been some by other reptiles in the trade. (I am thinking venomous snakes and large constrictors) I imagine if a law like this would come to be it would just be a matter of time before we'd see burms, rocks, anacondas, and so on tacked on as illegal to sell as well.
If you ban American Alligators some other crocodilian is just going to "fill the hole" - Years ago, it used to be that Spectacled Caimans that were purchased in droves and given away. The caimains I have, and have had came to me in that exact way. Those animals were imported in numbers and were at every show - until they were federally banned. Then gators took their place.
These Ban laws are not going to stop irresponsible people, but they will negatively affect those who ARE responsible and want to be right with the law.
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Will do...and more... - Ravenspirit, Fri Feb 11 23:44:17 2011