Brief history:
I have been told that the Fish and Wildlife Commission wants control over basically all non-native animals in the state besides dogs and domestic cats.
In November 06, the Oregon Supreme Court said that Fish and Wildlife never had authority over non-indigenous animals and took that away from them. Now they are trying to get it back with SB 804. The last part of that bill reads
19) 'Wildlife' means fish, shellfish, { - wild birds, - }
amphibians and reptiles, feral swine as defined by State
Department of Agriculture rule { , wild birds as defined by
commission rule } and other wild mammals { as defined by
commission rule }.
According to ORS (Oregon Revised Statutes) 498.002, all wildlife is the property of the state.
In other words, the Fish and Wildlife Commission would decide what a wild bird and a wild mammal is and could use this to get control over any fish, shellfish, amphibian, reptile, bird or mammal group.
This is not a good idea.
If the Commision can get authority over canids, felids, primates, bears, and crocodiles it can ban (and I have heard a ranking member of the commision quoted as saying it WILL ban) them all. USDA facilities will not be protected. State permit holders will not be protected. This bill makes pet shops and owners of reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds vulnerable. If the Commision is given this authority it will only answer to itself on what animals it can show up and confiscate. We may be looking at a California type situation here.
This bill is currently with the House Agriculture and Natural Resouces Committee. It has already passed the Senate and will be voted on in the House if it is passed out of the committee. There is a public hearing on this bill Thursday at 3:00 in Salem at the capitol, in hearing room D.
Before then anyone who can should phone the committee chairman, Arnie Roblan, and object to this part of the bill.
His phone number is 503-986-1409.
Please stir up anyone you can on this right away, in any of the affected groups!!
