Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so here a post about the latest incompetency of usark and wyatt. at hamburg this weekend there was a petition being sent around to sign to get senator alloway to amend bh1398. first of all the bill dosnt deal with reptiles at all. it dosnt matter how vague wyatts says the language is, which its not at all, this bill cant have any affect on reptiles and amphibians since the bill is looking to amend title 34. title 34 deals with mammals only. title 30 deals with reptiles and amphibians. on top of the fact that alloway wouldn't amend that bill because any amendment would cause the bill to be sent back to the house and would have to start the whole process over again, the bill already passed out of alloways committee so its passed the point that he could amend it. plus this bill will make it legal once again to sell and breed such things as sugar gliders and hedgehogs. once again wyatt didnt do his home work, just like out in Il where scott ballards bill would have given some rights back to reptile and amphibian owners. i just talked to steve mcmullen. hes the guy the wrote the bill. i sent him an email to address the issues and concerns usark scared people into having. also i had talk to allowyas office before about how big of a role wyatt and usark played in preventing alloway from proposing anti reptile legislation. they told me that they had engage very little with wyatt or usark. so today i sent alloway the email from usark we all got last year in which usark made a lot of claims. i just spoke with alloways office letting them know about this issue and they were very eager to look at the email after i told them what was said in it. hopefully they will be getting back to me this week. heres is what the email said.

NO Ban in Pennsylvania
It has been recently reported in a number of media venues that Pennsylvania State Senator Richard Alloway (R-33) would introduce legislation that would ban many reptiles in PA. There has been much talk over the social networks and forums speculating about a possible reptile ban. USARK CEO Andrew Wyatt engaged the Senator's office and provided facts in order that a more informed decision regarding potential legislation could be made.

It is important to understand that Senator Alloway is a good and honorable man trying to do the right thing for his state. There is absolutely no ideological bias in his perspective. He is pro small business and pro animal agriculture. His office was gracious in entertaining USARK's Best Management Practices as an alternative to a ban.

Following a conversation this morning between Andrew Wyatt and key staff in Senator Alloway's office the decision had been made to put the proposed bill on "HOLD". At this point there is no intention of introducing a bill. If at some future date a bill is proposed it will be in consultation with USARK.

Again USARK has engaged the process and come away with positive results for the Reptile Nation! There are no current plans for a reptile ban in Pennsylvania!

Please click the button at the top of the page and donate $5 to USARK.

JOIN USARK! There is Strength in Numbers… Protect Your Rights!

Questions:
Andrew Wyatt
president@usark.org
252-207-1041

i asked, in the email i sent to alloway to confirm or deny the claims made by usark in their email

here is my email to steve mcumullen and his response.

From: Rodney Boalich [mailto:rodneynboalich@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 10:14 AM
To: McMullen, Steve
Subject: hb1398

Dear Steve Mcmullen.

There has been some confusion here in the state of PA about the bill you helped write and Rep Staback proposed. People within the reptile industry are worried that your bill will ban reptiles and amphibians. I know it does not deal with reptiles and amphibians since its looking to amend title 34 not title 30. With 30 being the title that reptiles and amphibians fall under you bill obviously cant affect them. There is also concern that the bill will prohibit breeding small mammals such as mice and so on. This weekend at a reptile show here in PA there was a petition going around to be sent to senator Alloway to amend your bill to make it clear that reptiles will not be involved in any way. This petition was sent around at the request of the organization UASRK. Could you please address these issues so i may have proof to show they can stop worrying about this bill.

thank you

rodney boalich

8147623728

and hear is the email he just sent me

Mr. Boalich,

You are correct in your description of the bill and of Title 30 and Title 34.

It cannot be said any simpler than you describe: Title 30 covers reptiles; Title 34 covers animals and birds. Just as no one would ever think of amending Title 7 Banks and Banking to affect Title 43 Labor, no one in the legislature who writes bills for a living would consider amending Title 34 with language that would affect reptiles.

As for the mice, a simple reading of the bill shows that an exception is made for mice. The bill does not affect mice.

I hope this helps. I would be glad to speak to UASRK.

Steve McMullen