Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think a national association between herp hobbyist, importers, exporters, and pet store owners should be established. I've brought this idea up before in other forums, but its fell on deaf ears. Working in DC, I know the importance of lobbyist and associations. Almost no law is passed or repealed without them. A national association has power in numbers, in raising funds between members to lobby politians, and ability to create a unified voice. Otherwise, we are a dispersed group of individuals. The divided will be conquered by all the ignorant, herp-fearing, PETA loving organizations and politians.

Can something be organized?

Mark Ledbetter
Maryland

Congressman Garwood (NC) stated:
"I didn't have any idea there were as many people involved in this," Garwood said last week, "people keeping snakes and this, that and the other in their house, and breeding these animals and selling them on the Internet. I mean, it's crazy.
"There's got to be some controls on it."

This shows two things that an association can accomplish. 1st, let politicians know exactly how popular this hobby is, and second, educate them. Associations are good means of public education.

Statistics need to be made that show correspondences between domestic animals and herps. How many fatal dog attacks per 1000 people verse herps? How many diseases can be spread by horses, dogs, cats, etc. to humans verse herps? How many domestics are let loose or taken to shelters verse herps? Etc. When a valid side by side comparison is made, dogs, cats, and other domestics are more dangerous, spread more diseases, cause more environmental damage than do herps.

These studies along side public education and lobbying campaigns force the politicians and wildlife officials to explain why they discriminate one group of animals from another.

Mark Ledbetter

You are right about the deaf ears.What happens is one person does not care about if your a field herper the other one keeps only geckos the next is a ball python guy and so on and so on ,if it doesnt effect them,who cares . But slowly its coming,no matter who we vote for in the political area fish and game are not elected to office neither is peta.AND to me i feel that peta and people like them have the gov and fish and game in the palm of there hand. They have the money to pay ,the time to go to go to court the lawyers you name it the'll get there'way thrue proccedings until the 3 or 4 people give up.The people that have the money or time ,lets say the people that started the origenal 2 reptile shows back in the 80's.did nothing in 1998 when the reptile sting happend,here in INDIANA.YES there where afew i mean less than a hand full of people that were actually breaking laws ,but the rest, were trapped in the lies and deciet that. the fish and game organized for over11/2to2yrs.I KNOW i got caught up into it ,and yes i must of done something wrong.And paid the price for 3yrs going to court so many times after cont cont and cont until i nor the others could afford the lawyer and he actually quite. crimanal diverson was the charge . and the laws since then have changed every year since then more and more rules regulations on whatyou can do and cant do wether its navtive or not .oneday you ball guys gecko people frog buffs it will come full circle .All it takes is one person to decide our fate it will take thousands to protect it .falling on deaf hears is what you get....................best regards fred pryor

The reptile industry generated over $2 billion dollars last year. If organized, collectively we could agree to a contribution for an assocations lobbying, legal support, education programs, and campaign contribution funds. A 1 cent on a dollar contribution would equal $200 Million dollars to the funds. 1 cent for every thousand dollars would equal $2 Million. Look at the financials for Peta. How hard would it to match them?

Here is an exerpt of Peta financials:

Financial Reports
The Year in Numbers:
REVENUES
Contributions $27,848,439
Gross Merchandise Sales $738,698
Interest, Dividends, Royalties and Other Income $722,109
Total Revenues $29,309,246

OPERATING EXPENSES
Programs
International Grassroots Campaigns $7,364,240
Public Outreach and Education $5,873,777
Research, Investigations and Rescue $4,806,621
Cruelty-Free Merchandise Program $909,807
Supporting Organization Activities $3,000,000
Membership Development $2,695,533
Management and General Expenses $811,670
Total Operating Expenses $25,461,648

You are right in that we need a national organization to represent us and fight/lobby for us in congress. I think we may need to include other groups in this organization as well (the more members the better). Maybe a combined organization of reptile owners, exotic mammal owners, exotic bird keepers, aquarists, ect., could be done. On there own, each of these groups is small. But together, I think we would have the numbers that we need. I don't know much about the keeping of exotic mammals or birds, but believe that these people should have the right to persue their hobbies as I do mine. Organizations like PETA are using the same tactics that the
anti-gun lobby tries to use against firearms owners. They concentrate on eliminating one small part of the hobby at a time eventually resulting in the entire hobby being banned. An example would be an attempt to ban croc ownership, or large snake ownership (the "assault rifles" of the reptile hobby). They do this by using propaganda to scare people who are not familiar with these things into believing they are in danger of them. The owners of all exotic animals need to group together and form a national organization to represent us, similiar to what the NRA has done for gun owners. Numbers equals votes and money and thats all that matters to most politicians.

I think sticking with reptiles and amphibeans are broad enough. There is no reason to affiliate with a broader group. But, there may be times where a reptile association will need to focus on specific issues, and not defend something entirely. I would believe its easier to convence the state to permit ownership of a boa than a lion. If your too broad, the argument is weaken.

Mark L