Reptile & Amphibian Forums

picture yourself as hard as it may be to be the head of this fight TO BAN the interstate sales of in their eyes the bigger snakes........now who would you beleive when they came to argue their point,,,,,the people who come at you with fantasy numbers and apocolyptic claims,.....the people who are heavily financially dependant on this not going through,,,,,,,,,OR SOMEONE WHO IS INDEPENDANT and bases his or her argument on SCIENTIFIC facts not financial ones,,,,,,,just let this please be a topic of discussion on the upcoming chat about this on here,,,,,,,get all the boid powers that be to come up with someone or some group to fight for this with hard scientific facts about the lack of dangers which may be felt and or argue any other points they are holding against this hobby.......i DO NOT SELL REPTILES and my collection will not change regardless but it would really suck to see whats been done in such a short time to come to a grinding holt......im sure youve all been lied to at some point in your life by somone selling you something,,,,,,,people are greedy by nature and say what it takes to make their money.....so there will be more credability if this is presented by someone NOT financially rewarded by this not going through,,,,,,,,picture a ban on car dealers selling across state lines.......would you believe them when they argued their points.......HAHAHAHA sorry couldnt resist and sorry to all the car dealer/snake sellers out there......so fight your fights individually and show yuor concerns but this needs a credable NOT FOR PROFIT spokesman......PERIOD

" OR SOMEONE WHO IS INDEPENDANT and bases his or her argument on SCIENTIFIC facts not financial ones "

I see what your saying and agree we need the support of academics as well keepers. Many are both. The scientific facts support keepers. The problem is what is being presented at this time are not the scientific facts but ill founded doomsday scenarios and propaganda based campaigns laced with lies, erroneous information and scare tactics. People who come at you with fantasy numbers and apocalyptic claims as it was put are just what private keepers are up against. To law makers that don't have a back ground and understanding it all sounds believable. This also applies to the average non keeper and gains their support. It's the oldest political strategy in the book.

Exotic pet ownership has been a part of the Unite States culture for over a century. During the course of that time there has not been one instance of a boa or python species over taking an ecological system and decimating the native wildlife or creating a hazardous situation for the general public. The situation in the Everglades has been used as political launch pad for certain self serving groups and a diversionary tactic by others . The facts do not support the hype.

The people who champion the glades cause against the pythons are the same ones who supported bills to divert vital water ways and sided with the multi billion dollar sugar cane industry. The sugar cane industry has drained off portions of the glades and poisoned the system with toxic run off. Until recently this went virtually unchecked. Now that the long reaching effects are destroying water quality across the state and poss a threat one of the states major income sources tourism the microscope is being pointed at them. The pythons represent a feel good save the Glades diversion as well as providing a great opportunity for anti ownership activist to jump in. This is to once again get people to take their minds of the real issue and keep them in office.

The true facts surrounding exotic pet ownership show a statistically outstanding track record for safety. From all standpoints . Sensationalized story's escalate what are nothing more then isolated case's into appearing common place. These story's are blown way out of proportion by today's tabloid like reporting. Again the facts to not support the hype.

To answer the question " who should fight the ban " simple. EVERYONE . Dog and cat owners and associations , bird breeders, tropical fish enthusiast , everyone. While boas and pythons may be the current focus they represent a stepping stone. The objective of those who want to take them away is far greater and they will continue to relentlessly peruse their goals against all of us.

Ernie Eison
Westwoodreptiles .com

well Ernie perhaps i should have called the post something else........YES everyone should fight it.......what i meant was who should be the ones who really go to bat,,,,,,,your post is a perfect example of a well written argument based on facts as youve learned them,,,,,,,,its much better then "hey man this is worth billions to your economy and the country will crumble without it"........my only point was not to flood them with NON facts and make the real facts go unheard,,,,,,,,,thank you for your post i hope many read it,,,,,,,,good luck to all

"...who should fight the ban " simple. EVERYONE . Dog and cat owners and associations , bird breeders, tropical fish enthusiast , everyone. While boas and pythons may be the current focus they represent a stepping stone. The objective of those who want to take them away is far greater and they will continue to relentlessly peruse their goals against all of us."

Yes, divide and conquer seems to work well against us. The humaniac groups have been able to accomplish a lot because they target individual groups such as hunters, medical research, farmers, and all of the various pet keepers and breeders SEPARATELY! And none of the groups have ever seen fit to support the other groups "because it doesn't affect ME!". Take note of this and remember the next time somebody wants to pass a law to take away some group's rights that you are not a part of. If there is no REALLY GOOD reason to pass a law or make new rules (other than to just look like the people in charge are "doing something" then STAND UP AND BE COUNTED! Even if you don't have anything to say other than "it appears to be a law that will do more harm than good for the following reasons________, so I am against it", that does count for something, if enough people write in. Not everyone has to be actively involved in the boa and python market to have their voice heard. Obviously, a short "against it" letter won't count as much as a professional letter with actual data, but numbers do count, and we need lots of numbers to have our opinons heard.