Please oppose S373 aka 'The Python Ban'.
I have spent my life working with reptiles and this could certainly come to an end if this bill passes as is written. And there are tens of thousands of people in the U.S. that will be affected by this legislation. Many businesses will be shut down and many others will be pushed to cut back employees. Is this what we need in a already struggling economy? The reptile industry is made up of tens of thousands of small businesses ran by hard working americans whom have been able to make a living doing something they love. This legislation will not only effect the reptile industry, there will be a chain reaction. Our industry dumps millions into the economy supporting many other industries. Our cages help support the plastic and steel industry. Bedding, water dishes, heating elements and other cage accesories support local pet and farm stores. We feed our animals high quality bred rodents, our rodent distributors will be affected. The rodent distributors purchase similar cages made of steel and plastic. They purchase bedding and grain feed from local farm stores. Millions of reptiles are shipped from state to state each year though UPS, FED EX, DELTA and USPS. There is a chain reaction that will be felt around the world. The USA exports millions of dollars in high quality captive born reptiles each year. We account for 82% of the import and export worldwide. We are not just talking about banning a few snakes. We are talking about destroying a massive worldwide industry. Many would lead you to believe the industry will be fine, because this legislation allows you to still keep and breed the species in question within your state. This is not the case. We breed animals for genetic color and pattern mutations 95% of our business is done out of state and country. Breeders would not survive this hit... The value of the animals we make our living on would plumit. Making it imposible to continue doing what we do.
This problem is a Florida issue that has gained momentum based on unscientific information and an agenda to end the pet trade by the USHS and other similar organizations. Florida has laws in place to help prevent this problem from spreading and they can work. The ban does nothing to address fixing the problem that exsists in southern Florida. As you can see by what is happening in Miami and the everglades right now do to extreme cold weather, these Reptiles cannot leave southern Florida. Many are dieing as we speak. Lizards are falling out of trees. These animals come from tropical enviroments and cannot survive anywhere else in our country. Please research this law and make a stand. Our industry is the only industry who has stepped up to try to solve the problem of ridding florida of the invasive Pythons. Pet owners are blamed for the problems that exist in Florida and i am not saying that they have played a role in the problem. But many would lead you to believe that we are the reason the Pythons are their. Hurricane Andrew played a huge role in releasing thousand of exotics into southern florida. Please help keep our industry alive and help it grow. I have spent the last three days in local pet stores informing the people of our state about this law and they were outraged. Wondering how it is possible for something like this to go so far without them knowing. You will be recieving 100's of letters from people in our great state who feel the same way I do.
Pets feel a place in everyones hearts and for many those pets are not dogs and cats. They are reptiles.
There was an article in the Deseret New about six months back about reptiles. The industry is growing in huge ways. It was estimated by the newspaper that over 63% of homes in Salt lake keep a reptile of some sort... Protect our rights. There is a solution to the problem, but s373 is not it.
Thanks
Josh Ketchum
Manager
Jeremy Stone Reptiles
www.boaconstrictor.com
801-310-6857
josh@boaconstrictor.com
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Josh Ketchum
Sunshine Boas 
