Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am out of frozen feeders so I went to a local pet store to get a few rats and when the girl rang them up she asked what my name was and told me the Dept of Ag. is tracking all small animal sales.
Do you think they are looking at whos buying in bulk frequently so they know who has lots of reptiles?
It just sounds shady to me.

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"Upon Thy Belly Thou Shalt Go"

Hmmm,...yeah!, it's hard to say EXACTLY why, but certainly doesn't sound like a good sign.

It seems they(Dept. of Ag.) would get more "bulk" data from places like Rodent Pro, Mice Direct, etc.. for finding out who has large amounts of snakes.

I don't like the "sound" of it, but it could just be a harmless study of some sort. Thanks for bringing that to our attention!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I am wondering where this is going on.
Nothing going on here in NY and I would wonder if it is legal to do such a thing....unless you are making meth out of those rodents....
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

Yes!,...or stuffing the rodents with high-explosives to ship out on terrorist missions!..LOL!

~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Pa.I have a few friends in the hobby and it seems to be just that particular pet store.
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"Upon Thy Belly Thou Shalt Go"

I have to say I am in N.Y. and I do not feel they are that strict. Or at least the laws are not as srictly enforced as most would think. The reason is because It is more expensive to confiscate large collections, and properly keep and feed them. If neighbors or the public do not complain, the city rather not be bothered with reptiles. The city is more interested in environmental crimes that would make them money rather than cost them money. An example would be a dump truck double parked and left running for an hour. It is more cost effective to give the driver a fine. Recently some bright light decided to take a large python out for a walk in Jnuary. Not only is it illegal to own them but it is also cruelty to the animal. That person rightfully got in trouble. New Jersey is a diffrent ball game they require a permit to keep anything even an Anole. This is something that bothers me. Not only does "The Man" charge you for the permit; he then wants to know what you own. Fact a friend of mine lives in N.J. and wanted to install a granite kitchen counter top and needed to get a permit. Because the value of the house goes up then so can the property taxes. Now thats a police state.

Make note to self:........... NEVER live in N.J.!

What a farse all that nonsense is!,....Yeah, I also read the article about the moron that took his Burmese python for a nice winter's walk. I'm sure the python enjoyed it(sarcasm).

I think the cold weather crystalized his brain cells LONG before that winter's walk with the snake!

He deserved something similar to what happened to the guy in this photo!..hahaaha!

best regards, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

That picture is great. LOL!

Here in south jersey, one petstore keeps track and one doesn't. the petstore that does, said it was by law that they were supposed to track rodent sales.

Believe it or not the Department of Agriculture is in charge of regulating facilities that raise and sell living and deceased rodents.

I work in a lab with a large animal facility and we have to fill out separate DOA forms and pass inspections to keep the rodents on site.

I'm not sure why, but they also want want documentation concerning what happens to the animals after they die.

At the same time you'd be surprised at how low the level of protection is for mice and rats.

Primates have more rights than people, but you can do practically anything you want to a rodent.

I wonder if it has something to do with rodents carying Monkey pox. I don't know if anyone recals this a couple of years back when some prariedogs in the pet trade showed up with Monkey pox. Also I know that if rodents carry certian diseases and they are in agricultural areas (farms) they can possibly pass them on to livestock like pigs. Once pigs get certian diseases they can morph into strains that humans can get. I do not know if this is the case but it might have something to do with it.

We have this in the UK too. Alot of pet shops over here will not even sell mice because they are worried that they will be bought for snake food. Every time I've bought an animal in a pet shop here, not just rodents, we have to supply names and addresses.

I know our laws are different than yours, just thought I'd share that bit of info lol
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