All,
Just wanted to post a copy of the letter I submitted to the government. Feel free to paraphrase, ignore, ridicule or copy verbatim if you want to. Submitting feedback might be peeing in the wind for all I know, but for anyone doubting what Jeff said about certain forces wanting to basically outlaw ownership of snakes/reptiles, visit the PETA site or the following:
Note that this organization doesn't want to address some of the negatives that we'd all like to see addressed, it's goal is to end private reptile ownership period.
If you'd like to submit feedback, the directions are at:
Anyway, here's what I wrote:
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Dear US Fish and Wildlife Service:
It has recently come to my attention that the USFWS is considering adding snakes of the genera Python, Eunectes, and Boa to the list of injurious species in the Lacey Act. I believe including these genera is not only completely unnecessary, but actually might worsen any supposed problem that it is supposed to remedy. And many people would be negatively impacted financially as well as emotionally, since responsible reptile ownership is a thriving hobby.
Responsible reptile owners and breeders share many of the goals of the USFWS. We want to see our nation's natural habitats and ecosystems preserved and cared for as much as any other group of citizens. However, the proposed actions will do nothing to achieve this goal; it will, in fact, cause the very problems it's supposed to prevent.
Here are the points supporting my position:
1) All the Boid snakes selected for consideration are from TROPICAL environments. This fact alone eliminates any meaningful ecological effect that they might have in the vast majority of states in the US. A Reticulated python or Boa constrictor would
not survive very long in any area of the country other than southern Florida. In fact, in many parts of the country during
most of the year, such tropical snakes would probably perish within hours of being exposed to the natural environment.
2) It is already against the law to release pet/exotic animals into the wild. All states have such laws. There is no need for a federal agency to create more legislation that is redundant anyway. Let the states handle it.
3) Responsible reptile ownership is an enjoyable, educational and thriving hobby shared my millions of citizens. While there will always be irresponsible lawbreakers who own snakes, you also need to consider that the vast majority boid keepers are responsible with their pets. And there are positive effects of snake ownership that easily offset any illegal, stupid acts by a few idiots. Many boid owners use their snakes to EDUCATE themselves as well as others to reduce irrational fear of any/all snakes,
including indigenous species.
4) To support this educational and thriving hobby, there are many responsible breeders and supply companies that form a multi-million dollar industry. Banning interstate commerce of popular boid species would easily cripple, if not wipe out, this industry.
5) If the proposed legislation is passed, ironically THERE WOULD BE AN INFLUX of these boids into the wild. Why? Because all of a sudden, the thousands of boas/pythons/anacondas that out-of-business breeders own will become worthless. Surely, many of these animals will make their way into the wild.
6) The proposed legislation seems completely arbitrary and lacks any perspective. There are other feral/exotic species of animals and plants that pose a threat (to even the southern Florida region) that is many orders of magnitude greater than the any threat posed by a few isolated breeding colonies of exotic snakes/lizards. Most species of the proposed banned genera pose no threat to humans, even small children. Any threat they
might have is to rats and mice, which might actually be beneficial to the environment and humans!
Please use common sense when considering the proposal to include the selected Boid snakes in the injurious species list. These snakes pose nothing even close to a national threat to our environment or to our citizens.
Thank you for your time!
