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This Just in from the House Judiciary Committee Regarding HR2811 Markup:

The full committee has just considered H.R. 2811.

The amended bill HR2811 was then passed by voice vote.

As promised by Committee Staff, Rep. Rooney's Staff and Rep. Meek's Staff, HR2811 was amended to limit the scope of the bill to only two snakes. Staff renewed their commitment to work with USARK over the August recess to hammer out language for an amendment prior to a vote on the House Floor allowing the captive bred trade of the affected snakes to continue. USARK is dedicated to making sure all the Burm and Afrock breeders will be able to continue to operate their businesses. We will work hard to preserve your place as a legal business concern within the Reptile Nation Family.

HR2811 had bi-partisan support and flew through the Subcommittee and Full Committee even with hundreds of calls and faxes opposing it. Fortunately, USARK was able to convince Committee Staff and the Sponsors that this Bill would be incredibly damaging to an entire sector of the economy if not amended. To their credit they listened. They had not heard our side of this issue before. It seemed to them a very simple bill. We illustrated our concerns and they understood it was not necessary to destroy the Reptile Industry over this issue. They did not have to listen. The votes were overwhelmingly there to pass HR2811 intact.

USARK would like to thank Congressman Meek and his staff, majority and minority Judiciary Committee Staff, Congressman Rooney and his Staff, Congressman Gohmert and his Staff, and Congressman Scott and his staff for listening to the concerns of the Reptile Nation and for working with us in good faith. We look forward to continuing to work to fine tune this bill through the month of August.

This is a real Victory for the Reptile Nation! This whole situation could easily have led to the end of the Reptile Community. Thanks to the hard work of the Reptile Nation we have turned a bad situation good. Animal Rights organizations can no longer slander us at will. Washington now wants to know where we stand on these issues. We are working hard to make sure they understand the realities behind what we do, not the fairy tales being bandied about as if they are fact. We now have a voice... the voice of the Reptile Nation! You are now being heard loud and clear. Thank you for all the support!

WITHOUT YOU THIS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE!!!

Click here to donate $10 with dollar for dollar matching from Zoo Med
usark.org/donate.php

Click here to Join The Reptile Nation with dollar for dollar matching from Zoo Med
www.usark.org/join.php

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Andrew Wyatt
President USARK

This is wonderful news and USARK has proven invaluable. Without all the work you've done this would have been a serious blow to millions of Americans. We can all let out a sigh of relief now, but I think the news of the results is just as chilling as it is relieving. I don't think 99% of python owners know just how close they came to having their hobbies jeopardized. This could easily happen again and next time they might not just limit the scope to pythons. With as many calls as they got I can't believe they weren't affected.

This is a victory but it should also be a lesson to us all. Without effort the hobby and business is in very real danger. It's not a time to relax... it's a time to rethink the way we keep and sell and put forth a face of reptile keepers to the public. Without more real citizens becoming aware and real reptile keepers joining the fight it's going to be an unsure future for reptile keepers. So if you're a breeder, please ensure that your buyers are responsible keepers who understand care and secure caging of the animals. If they are buying animals that need permits, make sure they have them. Continue with public outreach, education, and spreading the facts instead of the fiction. If you know people who own reptiles, inform them about the dangers and the benefits of joining USARK.

And I may have missed wording but the amendment definitely only stops importation of burmese and african rock, correct? In this announcement it said "limit the scope" to them but I can't remember specific wording on just importation.

Thanks again USARK and congrats.
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1.0 sumatran short tailed python
0.1 ball python
0.1 rosy boa
0.1 corn snake
1.0 mexican king snake
1.1 buttermilk racers
0.0.2 texas rat snakes
0.0.1 broadbanded watersnakes
0.0.2 yellow bellied watersnake
0.0.1 diamond back watersnake
0.0.1 blotched watersnake
0.0.1 ribbon snake
0.1 Texas brown snake
0.0.1 western cottonmouth
0.0.1 southern copperhead
0.0.1 rattlesnake
1.0 bearded dragon
1.0 leopard gecko

I myself would have liked to see some forensic work by someone with reptile experience done on the child that was supposedly killed by the Burm recently. From what I've heard, the bites were not consistant with a python attack. There's also a lot more that needs to be addressed in that regard. The fact that the child died by a "snake attack" is the main reason a lot of these politicians were behind this bill. It wouldn't be the first time a child's death was blamed on a snake instead of the real reason.

If there was indeed an attack and an attempt to consume the child, there would be undeniable evidence of saliva containing digestive enzymes in conjunction with any bite marks. More than likely there would be such evidence on the crown of the infant's head, Although it is possible the snake may have started swallowing a limb first. Don't know if the autopsy report confirmed any of this or not. Anyone know?
Just from what I've heard, I think it probably did happen, but the responsibility should clearly rest with the parents.
jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

John, there were three bites on the arms, but I didn't hear anything about bites on the head. Evidently the first thing the boyfriend did after finding out the snake was gone was to hurry to the child's room. NOT to look for the snake around the aquarium. This kind of deception has occured before in these type of cases. I guarantee the coroner never checked any of the bites out, and didn't know anything about snake bites anyway. Besides, people don't smell like food to snakes.