Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yep. You guessed it. Another one.

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2005/Bills/Senate/HTML/S1032v0.html

I hope you dont mind, but I copied your link to the crocodilians forum as well.

After reading the story about the venomous keepers who paraded around town irresponsibly in NC, it is not a surprised a bill similar to Illinois Dangerous Animal act as shown up. And this is very likely because people complained that there are many other dangerous animals besides venomous snakes. Not hard to convince legislation of that. Great job folks. I bet seeing the forums of people displaying irresponsible behavior so the public can see helps as well. Good luck on the fight. As usual I will inform my herp society and everyone on the mailing list and see if public opinion from responsible members of this community can help. It is funny that my family just purchased some property in NC.

This bill has been proposed for North Carolina wich if put in act will ban the following ("dangerous" andimals:

(1.) Class Mammalia

a. Order Carnivora

1. Family Felidae (lions, tigers, leopards, ocelots, servals, etc.) – all species except domestic cats.

2. Family Canidae (wolves, foxes, jackals, etc.) – all species except domestic dogs and indigenous foxes.

3. Family Ursidae (bears) – all species except black bears.

4. Family Viverridae (only binturongs).

5. Family Procyonidae (only kinkajous and coatis).

6. Family Hyaenidae (hyenas, etc.) – all species.

b. Order Marsupialia – only kangaroos.

c. Order Perissodactyla – only rhinoceroses.

d. Order Primates (lemurs, monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas) – all species.

e. Order Proboscidae (elephants, etc.) – all species.

f. Order Rodentia – only prairie dogs and Gambian rats.

(2) Class Reptilia

a. Order Squamata

1. Family Varanidae – only water monitors and crocodile monitors.

2. Family Boidae – all species whose adult length has the potential to exceed eight feet in length.

3. Family Colubridae – only boomslangs and African twig snakes.

4. Family Elapidae (cobras, mambas, etc.) – all species.

5. Family Nactricidae – only keelback snakes.

6. Family Viperidae (vipers) – only nonindigenous species.

7. Family Helodermatidae (beaded lizards, Gila monsters, etc.) – all species.

8. Family Hydrophiidae (sea snakes, etc.) – all species.

9. Family Atractaspidae (mole vipers, etc.) – all species.

b. Order Crocodilia (crocodiles, alligators, caimans, gavials, etc.) – all species.

Here is a link to the full bill:

Protection of Inherently Dangerous Animals

Here is a link to reps from NC:
rep info

Take action:
IEAKA
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-echo-

Man, it seems very possible we may come to a time when we will not be able to own burms anywhere in the US. I had to laugh that they included the Rhino though. But, then again, the gene pool can be shallow!
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DZ

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

Hello from Durham NC-

A comment on this bill- the primary intended target for this bill is the keepers of "pet" tigers. We have had 2 or 3 kids mauled fatally in the last 5-7 years, always a result of inadequate safety procedures, complacency, etc.

For some reason NC seems to have more than it's share of exotic (and dangerous) large felines, etc, I guess the climate is mild enough or population density both high and low enough, or whatever.

While they are at it they want to make a wide sweep of public hazards, without really understanding. An escaped gharial is little danger to the public, there are already lots of venomous snakes in our backyards, etc, etc...Personally I favor some control over the situation without knee-jerk responses - maybe a licensing process- ie you have to pass a test/be inspected to be allowed to keep some species, with appropriate criteria. That would weed out the worst offenses of improper animal care, both for the protection of the public and the animal's well-being.

Unfortunately such a process is very expensive to the state, we won't see anything like that.

We lose many more kids to attack-dog breeds than tigers, let alone gaboon vipers or pythons, so there isn't any real logic to the bill, other than it is easier to get people to vote against keeping rhinoceroses(...rhinoceri...whatever) than dogs.

Note also native species are excluded- under this bill you can keep all the 6-foot rattlesnakes you like (except protected species under NC WRC laws). Lack of understanding.

Just my 2 cents offered at a discount...