Dogs , cats and supplies . Tropical Fish . Small Birds , bearded dragons, leopard geckos, pocket pets, accessories. All keys to the pet trade. Bread and butter. Volume . That's how the big guys work. So what if you can't sell boas , pythons , any exotic stuff . That doesn't mean anything to them .
The reason reptiles are so vulnerable to this type of legislation is because the mainstream pet trade revolves around so few species.
It appears that there's no way HR 669 can work completely as written but if it gets to the point that it looks at least realistic that's where the serious negotiating comes in.
Activist groups and the Major pet trade players will discuss " compromises ". The activist have tried to do it alone in the past and failed. The reason this works for both sides is simple.
Legislation can be worked out that will allow the major players to sell and at the same time put all the mom and pop stores , trade shows and private breeders 6 feet under.
If somebody wants a pet they will have to go to Petco , Pet Smart . Most do now anyway ...so the majority of the pet owning / buying public won't care. This scenario would theoretically increase the profit margins of the large chains to the point that they could painlessly make sizable contributions to the " non profit " organizations of their choice. Win Win.
The main suppliers the key guys on our side will have to roll . Lets say leopard geckos, bearded dragons, corn snakes and kings are allowed . The big guys that produce 50,000 , 100, 000 of these animals aren't going to go out of business . The chains will still need animals. They will work out contracts and be ok.
The same thing with the big fish guys. They will work out an approved fish list based on sales. They'll still sell 10 million fish a year and live happily ever after. Birds etc.
If this happens it's the final straw for the little / mid range guys because it kills our major point of contention . Jobs and money. Take the major players out of the equation and what's left ? A hand full of self employed breeders , small shops that are dropping like fly's anyway and the rest are hobbyist .
The big end of the multi billion dollar a year industry we`er saying needs to be protected is unharmed.
I believe the Major chains and their possible partners have been discussing this a long time. The hold ups are legal , constitutional and internal riffs . Federal fish and game.
A move like this is not easy to pull off no matter who you are. It's very complicated , time , money , aggravation all the numbers have to work. Getting everyone on the same page . It's huge. It's much more then just bullying the little guy out of the picture.
The political climate in the past was not very supportive. The leverage and motivation wasn't there. This new bill could change all that.
Now things are getting ripe to make a move. I think there's a whole lot of number crunching going on . If they can make it work. I think we're in BIG trouble.
This is where our strength in numbers comes in . The more people against the bigger the obstacles. The bigger the back lash the harder it gets to pull this type of move off. Enough resistance and it's not possible. You have to crash thier numbers so that it dosen't work. We can do this.
The activist will be back but I think it will be very hard for them to get this type of momentum up again if they come up short this time around.
Ernie Eison
WESTWOOD ACRES REPTILE FARM INC.
