Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Chicago is currently pushing a city wide ordinance to ban reptiles, birds, bats certain cats, wolves, hybrids and the list goes on. But don’t stop reading now because you think this doesn’t affect you because you don’t live in Chicago. What they are pushing is the exact same ordinance passed a while back in NYC verbatim. They only thing they have changed is the references made to NYC, they simply cut out NYC and added Chicago. I spoke to the women today who rewrote the ordinance and asked her why they were pushing this. Now this lady is a lawyer supposedly educated, her response to me was “because my boss thinks it’s a good idea”. From there I asked her why it’s a good idea “well for one I think reptiles can make people sick……..oh and they can be dangerous as well”. I asked her what reptiles can make people sick with? “I don’t know people get sick from handling them” Those were her responses verbatim, she “thinks” reptiles can make people sick? Come on these people don’t have a clue! WE HAVE TO STOP THIS NOW!!!!!! We all cant allow this to go on any further. I don’t care if you own one or 1000 reptiles it will effect you. This is the PERFECT example of how laws get passed in one place plagiarized and passed in another. Anyone who breeds reptiles, sells supplies, feeders anything at all reptile related this will affect you. Chicago is a giant market, between the city and the suburbs that this is sure to spill over into theres 7-11million people that can and will be affected locally every single person who ships reptile/critters or supplies into the area that will lose that market. Chicago is simply one of the largest cities in the US and if they can push this there its going to be a breeze anywhere else. I know someone is going to come along and say something about how they passed it in NYC but its unenforceable because the way it was written. Well I tell you this the hard part is getting it passed from there revising it and making it enforceable isnt that difficult. Its easier to stop it now then it is to get something reasonable added once its passed. I have someone tonight who is scanning the ordinance for me and tomorrow I will post the whole thing as it stands once I find a place to put it. How ever for tonight I will type the section concerning reptiles word for word and also post the contact info for the lady who written it and the Alderman sponsoring it. So please contact these people and tell them this ordinance sucks!!!! Call and write them letters, they will put more priority on then emails but I will post them to. At the very least if you live in Deerfield PA or some other place, please email them and let them know this isn’t right. If ya can call and write them letters and get everyone you can to as well. Also as soon as I have it I will post the address and info for the hearing concerning this and I beg everyone that can to show up, Ill be there and I am driving 5hrs. They are trying to push this through the “Police and Fire” committee. What do the Police and fire committee have to do with reptiles you ask? NOTHING! Sending it through a committee such as that us a sneaky way of getting it passed. The people there will know little to nothing about this issue and probably wont care so they’ll all vote one way so they can get on with business to something they care about. Anyway heres the contact info and section about reptiles as they stand. PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!!!!

Contact
This Ordinance is being sponsored by
Alderman Edward Burke
2650 W 51st st
Chicago Il 60632
773-471-1414
312-744-3380
cburke@cityofchicago.org

Co-Sponsor
Shirley Coleman
1249 W. 63rd st
Chicago Il, 60636
773-918-1670
sacoleman@cityofchicago.org

This was written by
Michelle Murphy 312-744-3380

Please contact them immediately!!! Tomorrow I will post a list of 20 other Aldermans you can contact as well who will be voting on this.

(10) Reptile(reptilia) All Helodermatidae(gila monster and mexican beaded lizards) all front-fanged venomous snakes, even if its devenomized, including but not limited to, all viperidea(viper, pit viper), all elapiidae(cobra, momba, krait, coral snake), All Atractaspididae(african burrowing asp), all hydrophidae(sea snake), all Latieaudidae(sea Krait) all venomous, mid or rear fanged, duernoy-glanded members of the family Colubridae, even if devenomized; any member, or hybrid offspring of the family boidae, including but not limited to, the common or green or anaconda and yellow anaconda;any member of the family pythonidae, including but not limited to African rock python, indian or burmese python, amethystine or scrub python; any member of the family Varanidae, including the white throated monitor, Bose’s or African savannah monitor, komodo monitor or dragon, nile monitor, crocodile monitor, water monitor, bornean ealess monitor, any member of the family iguanidae, including the common or green iguana, any member of the family teidae including but not limited to the golden, common or balck and white tegu; all members of the family Chelydridae, including snapping turtle and alligator snapping turtle; and all members of the family crocodylia including, but not limited to alligator, caiman and crocodile.

Thats how it reads verbatim. So you can forget your pastel, spider, pied ball pythons, dwarf species of boas of coarse not limited to and including albinos, sunglows, snows, motleys. If the ordinance passes you will never have the chance to own any of the above and if you do you better prey no one ever turns you in(POed Ex-girlfriend, competitor) because if they do your $10,000 Pied will become city property! We need to take action NOW!!!!!! So please write and call these people. Also I still need volunteers to work as liaisons to pass this sort of info along in other states. Also if you know of anything of this sort going on in your state please let me know. Send me links or info to get a copy of the bill, I will do everything I can to pass the info on to as many people as I can. And if you know of a herp society in your area please email there contact info(phone number, web site address, mailing addy, email addy, just anything). I want to comply list of all herp societies but don’t have the time to do searches and in a lot of cases they arent even listed on the net. I will get it all listed on my web site or start another on or something. But please email any helpful info you can as I will be posting this anywhere and everywhere I can and wont have time to go back and read all the replies. So please get active!!!!!!!!
Jason Sweigart
Classic@dumerils.com
www.dumerils.com
-----
Jason & Danica
A hit man for the order-when you couldnt go to school-had a skin job for a hair do-yeah you looked pretty cool-had a habit doing mainline-watch the dragon burn-no regrets, youve got no goals-nothing more to learn--now I know you wont refuse-because weve got so much to do-we got nothing more to lose-so take this number and welcome to-Operation : Mindcrime-were an under ground revolution working overtime...Operation Mindcrime, Queensryche.
Classic Dums

So, just what is it I should say? I mean, how should I word my statement to them - I certainly don't want to simply say that I think the proposed ordinance "sucks". But I would very much like to help prevent any ordinance that starts with such a sweeping statement as banning all "reptilia".

Just as a side note - there was a full scale ban on owning reptiles in the city I live in now (just outside of Boston, MA). It was in effect for about the past thirty years, until finally about a year ago a large-chain pet store opened shop here and spent the time and money it took to get the ordinance amended to remove the word "reptiles" from it's list of banned animals. But that's not the end of woes for us herpers here. See, the ordinance still bans "wild, or so-called 'exotic' animals". Now tell me, could they have been any more vague?!

Thanks,
- Mark

P.S.
Did anyone else notice the obvious lack of sensible intellect in the proposed ordinance? I know the woman (lawyer) does not seem to shine so brightly, but the draft of the ordinance specifies quite a number of different types of reptiles - all after having inherently banned each and every one of them with the simply stated opening of "reptiles". It's very redundant - and annoying at that.

>>Chicago is currently pushing a city wide ordinance to ban reptiles, birds, bats certain cats, wolves, hybrids and the list goes on. But don’t stop reading now because you think this doesn’t affect you because you don’t live in Chicago. What they are pushing is the exact same ordinance passed a while back in NYC verbatim. They only thing they have changed is the references made to NYC, they simply cut out NYC and added Chicago. I spoke to the women today who rewrote the ordinance and asked her why they were pushing this. Now this lady is a lawyer supposedly educated, her response to me was “because my boss thinks it’s a good idea”. From there I asked her why it’s a good idea “well for one I think reptiles can make people sick……..oh and they can be dangerous as well”. I asked her what reptiles can make people sick with? “I don’t know people get sick from handling them” Those were her responses verbatim, she “thinks” reptiles can make people sick? Come on these people don’t have a clue! WE HAVE TO STOP THIS NOW!!!!!! We all cant allow this to go on any further. I don’t care if you own one or 1000 reptiles it will effect you. This is the PERFECT example of how laws get passed in one place plagiarized and passed in another. Anyone who breeds reptiles, sells supplies, feeders anything at all reptile related this will affect you. Chicago is a giant market, between the city and the suburbs that this is sure to spill over into theres 7-11million people that can and will be affected locally every single person who ships reptile/critters or supplies into the area that will lose that market. Chicago is simply one of the largest cities in the US and if they can push this there its going to be a breeze anywhere else. I know someone is going to come along and say something about how they passed it in NYC but its unenforceable because the way it was written. Well I tell you this the hard part is getting it passed from there revising it and making it enforceable isnt that difficult. Its easier to stop it now then it is to get something reasonable added once its passed. I have someone tonight who is scanning the ordinance for me and tomorrow I will post the whole thing as it stands once I find a place to put it. How ever for tonight I will type the section concerning reptiles word for word and also post the contact info for the lady who written it and the Alderman sponsoring it. So please contact these people and tell them this ordinance sucks!!!! Call and write them letters, they will put more priority on then emails but I will post them to. At the very least if you live in Deerfield PA or some other place, please email them and let them know this isn’t right. If ya can call and write them letters and get everyone you can to as well. Also as soon as I have it I will post the address and info for the hearing concerning this and I beg everyone that can to show up, Ill be there and I am driving 5hrs. They are trying to push this through the “Police and Fire” committee. What do the Police and fire committee have to do with reptiles you ask? NOTHING! Sending it through a committee such as that us a sneaky way of getting it passed. The people there will know little to nothing about this issue and probably wont care so they’ll all vote one way so they can get on with business to something they care about. Anyway heres the contact info and section about reptiles as they stand. PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!!!!
>>
>>Contact
>>This Ordinance is being sponsored by
>>Alderman Edward Burke
>>2650 W 51st st
>>Chicago Il 60632
>>773-471-1414
>>312-744-3380
>>cburke@cityofchicago.org
>>
>>Co-Sponsor
>>Shirley Coleman
>>1249 W. 63rd st
>>Chicago Il, 60636
>>773-918-1670
>>sacoleman@cityofchicago.org
>>
>>This was written by
>>Michelle Murphy 312-744-3380
>>
>>Please contact them immediately!!! Tomorrow I will post a list of 20 other Aldermans you can contact as well who will be voting on this.
>>
>>10) Reptile(reptilia) All Helodermatidae(gila monster and mexican beaded lizards) all front-fanged venomous snakes, even if its devenomized, including but not limited to, all viperidea(viper, pit viper), all elapiidae(cobra, momba, krait, coral snake), All Atractaspididae(african burrowing asp), all hydrophidae(sea snake), all Latieaudidae(sea Krait) all venomous, mid or rear fanged, duernoy-glanded members of the family Colubridae, even if devenomized; any member, or hybrid offspring of the family boidae, including but not limited to, the common or green or anaconda and yellow anaconda;any member of the family pythonidae, including but not limited to African rock python, indian or burmese python, amethystine or scrub python; any member of the family Varanidae, including the white throated monitor, Bose’s or African savannah monitor, komodo monitor or dragon, nile monitor, crocodile monitor, water monitor, bornean ealess monitor, any member of the family iguanidae, including the common or green iguana, any member of the family teidae including but not limited to the golden, common or balck and white tegu; all members of the family Chelydridae, including snapping turtle and alligator snapping turtle; and all members of the family crocodylia including, but not limited to alligator, caiman and crocodile.
>>
>>Thats how it reads verbatim. So you can forget your pastel, spider, pied ball pythons, dwarf species of boas of coarse not limited to and including albinos, sunglows, snows, motleys. If the ordinance passes you will never have the chance to own any of the above and if you do you better prey no one ever turns you in(POed Ex-girlfriend, competitor) because if they do your $10,000 Pied will become city property! We need to take action NOW!!!!!! So please write and call these people. Also I still need volunteers to work as liaisons to pass this sort of info along in other states. Also if you know of anything of this sort going on in your state please let me know. Send me links or info to get a copy of the bill, I will do everything I can to pass the info on to as many people as I can. And if you know of a herp society in your area please email there contact info(phone number, web site address, mailing addy, email addy, just anything). I want to comply list of all herp societies but don’t have the time to do searches and in a lot of cases they arent even listed on the net. I will get it all listed on my web site or start another on or something. But please email any helpful info you can as I will be posting this anywhere and everywhere I can and wont have time to go back and read all the replies. So please get active!!!!!!!!
>>Jason Sweigart
>>Classic@dumerils.com
>>www.dumerils.com
>>-----
>>Jason & Danica
>>A hit man for the order-when you couldnt go to school-had a skin job for a hair do-yeah you looked pretty cool-had a habit doing mainline-watch the dragon burn-no regrets, youve got no goals-nothing more to learn--now I know you wont refuse-because weve got so much to do-we got nothing more to lose-so take this number and welcome to-Operation : Mindcrime-were an under ground revolution working overtime...Operation Mindcrime, Queensryche.
>>Classic Dums

First off everyone who has taken the time to write, THANK YOU!!! You taking the time out of you day to write means alot to myself and EVERYONE in chicago! anyway heres a draft emailed to me, I was given permission to use this anyway I see fit. Please dont cop0y it and put your name on it, if the receive this 20 times its not going to do any good but use it as a guide

My name is Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry, I am a US Citizen specialising in
research on venomous snakes. I am writing in regards to recent proposed
legislation (House bill 1725 and Senate Bill 5729) regarding exotic
wildlife as pets. These are pre-packaged pieces of legislation put together
as part of a campaign by the "Animal Protection Institute"
to ban the keeping of animals as pets. While they operate under the
guise of concern for public safety, their motivation is simply outlawing
pets pure and simple. They have put the exact same bill (word for word)
into legislative debate in other States. Recently sanity prevailed
(after much bad press) and the bill was defeated in South Carolina.

In regards to the specific proposed legislation to ban exotic animals,
on the surface this may appear to be reasonable to protect the public.
However, a closer examination reveals that the such protection may not
be needed. The incidence of exotic animal related injuries is far
dwarfed by that of 'companion' animals such as dogs and cats. In API's
selective citing of venomous animal related injuries, the vast majority of
cases are due to native species in the wild. The bites to private
keepers by exotic snakes is quite low and there has never been an instance
of one of these snakes escaping and injuring a member of the public.
Further, the habitat is unsuitable so in the case of an escape, the
chances of long term survival is very unlikely. They neglect to cite the
incidence of injury from cats, dogs or horses.

In my personal and professional opinion, a lot of benefit, both
scientifically, ecologically and economically, arises from the captive keeping
of exotic animals. Rather than ban them and make the permits for the
existing snakes prohibitively expensive, why not implement a system
similar to the rational one in place in Florida? By allowing private
keepers who have demonstrated competence to keep the animals, public safety
will actually be improved. Rational regulation such as this allows
keepers to be above board and thus seek proper medical care in the event
of a snake envenomation for example rather than 'trying to ride it out'
so that they don't risk losing their snakes. Further, a system such
as Florida's will better ensure that the snakes are kept in secure
enclosures rather than banning them. If the snakes are banned, then no
system will be in place to make sure they are kept properly. People will
still keep the snakes, they just will be more furtive about it.

As for the specific species of snakes mentioned, the ones in the
colubridae are not accurate as a reflection of potential danger. Other than
outsized specimens chewing on children for an hour in Guan, no Boiga
species has ever caused a serious envenomation. That said, Rhabdophis
species are well known to produce serious envenomation. Thus I would
recommend the dropping of Boiga and the addition of the Rhabdophis genus.
As for the monitor lizards, while Varanus salvator is one of the
largest, it is also one of the tamest of all the Varanus species and thus is
of very low danger. The incidence of injury by large snakes is
extremely low. This is contrary to the impression given by the API and the
proposed legislation.

In regards to Zoonosis (diseases spread by animals to humans). I have
attached below a letter by veterinarians.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to
contact me.

All the best,
Bryan Grieg Fry, Ph.D.
Australian Venom Research Unit
Department of Pharmacology
University of Melbourne
Parkville, Vic
3010 Australia

------------------

ASSOCIATION OF REPTILIAN AND AMPHIBIAN VETERINARIANS RESPONSE TO HSUS
PROPOSAL FOR BAN ON REPTILE PETS.

November 10, 2001

To the editor,

We are writing in response to the recent publication by the Humane
Society of the United States (HSUS), "Reptiles as Pets: An
Examination of the Trade in Live Reptiles in the United States."
While we applaud HSUS for highlighting many of the problems
associated with the trade in live reptiles, we cannot agree with
their conclusion that the reptile trade must be ended, and that the
sale of reptiles as pets should be banned. Maintaining captive
reptiles can be a rewarding, educational experience, and in some
cases may have significant conservation value. Problems associated
with the reptile pet trade have been noted by conservation
biologists, herpetologists, and veterinarians for decades. These
problems include, but are not limited to, zoonotic diseases such as
Salmonellosis, damage to wild populations of rare species due to over-
collection, introduction of non-native species or exotic diseases,
and animal welfare issues regarding transportation of reptiles and
survival of reptiles in captivity. These are serious concerns;
however, such problems can be overcome by effective education,
legislation, and research.
Caring for a captive reptile, like caring for any animal, can
provide an understanding of the organism that can be achieved in no
other way. It may pique ones curiosity, leading to further, more
advanced study. Most professional herpetologists, reptile
veterinarians, reptile curators, etc. report that maintaining
reptiles as pets was an influential part of their childhood and may
have guided their career choice. As habitat loss and urbanization
continue, maintaining captive reptiles may provide ones only exposure
to these organisms. Individuals that maintain captive reptiles are
likely to be more concerned with local, regional, and global reptile
conservation issues than individuals that have never seen or touched
a live reptile. In her recent book "Why the Wild Things Are:
Animals
in the Lives of Children", psychologist Gail Melson investigates
the
potential benefit that animals may provide in childhood development.
While the field is largely unexplored, Melson suggests that pets may
play a role in the development of nurturing skills, compassion,
affection, and "may function as a meaning system through which
children make sense of both themselves and their surrounding
environments." We believe that these theories are true, and that
owning a corn snake as a child can be as developmentally important as
owning a dog. Obviously, good judgement on the part of a responsible
adult is needed, and one must ensure that children caring for
reptiles are mature enough to provide proper care and hygiene for the
animal, while maintaining their own safety from zoonotic disease.
Owning a reptile requires a commitment of time and money as
with any pet. It also requires that an appropriate animal be chosen
for a given circumstance, and that ethical concerns be addressed. It
is no more reasonable to think that a large aggressive reptile will
be a good pet than to think that a large aggressive dog will be a
good pet. It is no more reasonable to expect an ill, dehydrated,
imported reptile to adapt to captivity than to expect a parasitized,
parvovirus-infected puppy from a poor source to thrive in its new
home. There are a number of species of reptiles now available in the
pet trade that are born in captivity, remain relatively small, have
known husbandry requirements, and can be obtained in healthy
condition from reputable sources. Examples of species in this
category are bearded dragons, leopard geckos, corn snakes, milk
snakes, ball pythons, and Mediterranean tortoises.
Salmonella is a well-known zoonotic disease associated with
keeping captive reptiles. Human fatalities do occur from reptile-
associated Salmonellosis. However, we are well aware of the risk of
zoonotic disease associated with owning dogs, cats, birds, horses,
etc, as well as the threat of fatal trauma induced by some dogs or
horses. An estimated three to four million dog bites occur each year
in the US, half of which involve children. Salmonella is just one of
dozens of zoonotic diseases we may get from our pets. Should we avoid
owning all animals to prevent zoonoses? The risk of Salmonellosis can
be reduced by following guidelines established by the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) and the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian
Veterinarians (ARAV), which are available from the ARAV.
Decreasing the massive importation and exportation of
reptiles may be desirable, particularly for species whose post-
importation survival is known to be poor. As an example, we know that
hingeback tortoises (Kinixys spp.), that were imported by the
thousands from Africa in the past decade, do very poorly in
captivity, as do many, many other species. Ending the trade in such
species would likely be met with little resistance, and is becoming
more practical as more captive-born animals of other species become
available However, we are not in favor of complete shut-down of the
international reptile trade. There are many very motivated,
dedicated private reptile keepers that have made tremendous
contributions to herpetological taxonomy, husbandry techniques, and
conservation based on the availability of imported animals. As an
example, the endangered radiated tortoise (Geochelone radiata) from
Madagascar was first bred in the US by a private individual in the
1970s. The progeny of this individuals group formed the basis of much
of the captive-breeding program for this species later adopted by
zoos throughout the country. More recently, the worlds known
population of the endangered McCords box turtle (Cuora mccordi) has
been nearly doubled by the breeding groups of private individuals.
Completely eliminating the availability of imported specimens may
prevent the development of captive assurance colonies of species that
are being driven to extinction in their native habitats. While
collection for the pet trade has undoubtedly damaged some species
populations, habitat destruction and consumption in the international
food trade remain the most significant threats to most reptile
species.
Concerns regarding the welfare of animals in transit and in
captivity are valid. Improper shipping techniques and improper
husbandry can result in mortality. However, I believe that the best
approach to this is not to stop the trade in reptiles, but to work to
constantly improve shipping regulations, inspections, penalties for
violations, and dissemination of proper husbandry information. We
have developed techniques to allow the humane movement of other
species, and such techniques can be developed for reptiles. This may
involve decreasing the numbers of animals moved in a given shipment,
and may mean that prices of animals will increase; but such changes
may be inevitable if the demand for healthy, ethically shipped
animals increases. Husbandry techniques have improved greatly in the
past decade and many excellent texts exist for most of the commonly
kept reptiles. Owners that do not provide adequate husbandry simply
have not done their research. This should not motivate a ban on
reptile pets any more than the dog owner who calls their veterinarian
on the day their [bleep] whelps and asks "what do I do?"
should
motivate a ban on dog ownership.
Finally, regarding the issue of the introduction of exotic
disease by imported reptiles, we are quite concerned. It is clear
that the potential for exotic disease entering the US with reptiles
exists. The case of African tortoises imported to Florida, found to
be infected with ticks carrying the causative agent of Heartwater
disease, brought this risk to the attention of many interested
parties. However, this is another situation where research, rather
than banishment, is needed. Since the original incident, and
stimulated by the incident, an effective and safe acaracide has been
identified for use in tortoises. By thinking about the problems,
identifying risks, and increasing the vigilance of monitoring, it is
possible to discover and address previously unrecognized diseases. If
certain diseases are found that cannot be controlled, then an
importation ban on the involved reptile species may be warranted.
In conclusion, we believe that reptiles should be available
as pets. It is desirable to greatly reduce the large-scale sale and
importation of reptiles in favor of supporting the more selective
sale of domestically bred reptiles of relatively easy to maintain
species. The path to this end will involve participation of many
groups, but at the forefront should be individual state governments.
State governments have control over allowing collection of native
animals, as well as which species may be sold in pet stores. In the
past, many states have taken the approach of banning a few
undesirable species, while allowing the sale of all other species.
Perhaps states should consider instead allowing the sale of only
certain species that have been captive bred and have known husbandry
requirements. Provisions for more serious keepers to obtain permits
to maintain restricted species could be issued based on guidelines
established by each state. We encourage the veterinary and
herpetological communities to voice their dissent to the conclusions
of the HSUS Live Reptile Trade report.

Sincerely,

Charles J. Innis, VMD
President, Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians

Teresa Bradley. DVM
Belton, MO

Mark Mitchell, DVM, PhD
Louisiana State University

Elliot Jacobson, DVM, PhD, DACZM
University of Florida

Dale DeNardo, DVM, PhD
University of Arizona

Kevin Wright, DVM
Phoenix, AZ

William Griswold, DVM
Tempe, AZ
-----
Jason & Danica
A hit man for the order-when you couldnt go to school-had a skin job for a hair do-yeah you looked pretty cool-had a habit doing mainline-watch the dragon burn-no regrets, youve got no goals-nothing more to learn--now I know you wont refuse-because weve got so much to do-we got nothing more to lose-so take this number and welcome to-Operation : Mindcrime-were an under ground revolution working overtime...Operation Mindcrime, Queensryche.
Classic Dums

We should ban books on snakes, too, because that will further allow ignorance to prevail!

These laws (as far as harmless snake species go) make about as much sense as saying, "Eating dog poop makes you sick...we must ban all dogs."

It's nothing new. Our strongest tools in this fight are:

1. Peaceful protest (so write letters and emails, get other involved).

2. Education (tell people, intelligently, that properly-cared-for, non-venomous snakes are no more dangerous than dogs).

3. Be a responsible snake owner!

Take care.

-Brandon

.

Before you read this, please keep in mind that I am not an expert on lizards. I could only cover what I know and hopefully bring some council members to thier senses. I can only pray that I helped in some small way.

The message below was sent to Edward Burke and Shirley Coleman.

Mr. Burke

Good afternoon. If I may take a moment of your time to discuss the above-mentioned ordinance, in particular, the proposed ban against owning certain species of reptiles. I understand the concern of the city council members over the ownership of certain exotic animals. However, after reading paragraph (10) concerning reptiles, it has occurred to me that perhaps some further research is in order.

Please understand that not all members of the family boidae and pythonidae are harmful or should be regarded in such a nature as would preclude a ban against owning such reptiles. For instance, the commonly owned Ball Python rarely reaches a length above six feet and is widely known as one of the most docile species in the family pythonidae. Even the Burmese Python, which was mentioned specifically, is not an aggressive animal and should not be regarded as such. In the family boidae, the Boa Constrictor is also commonly kept as pets and also widely recognized as a more docile species. More importantly, this proposed ordinance is not the product of any research, or any factual gatherings. This act is the direct by-product of what is called a 'blanket fear'. In other words - a fear of reptiles in general. It is due to the reaction from such a fear and the lack of education concerning exotics that these ordinances are passed.

The facts of the matter are as follows. The United States alone, an average of 99% of animal bite victims are from either domesticated dogs or cats. If I may quote Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry: "The bites to private keepers by exotic snakes is quite low and there has never been an instance of one of these snakes escaping and injuring a member of the public. Further, the habitat is unsuitable so in the case of an escape, the chances of long term survival is very unlikely." If the concern of the council members is to protect the public against animal bites, perhaps it would make more sense to ban the ownership of our common dogs and cats.
Instead of going to extreme measures that will, in all likelihood, not produce the effect desired; let us work together to find a common solution to some of the concerns that the council-members have. I will have to formally protest passing such an ordinance due to the infringement on the rights of these animal owners and, more importantly, the effect that it will have on the confiscated animals. Has the council-members thought about what they plan on providing for these animals? Will they get the humane treatment and housing that they deserve or will they be simply eliminated, like a rabid animal? These exotic animals do not pose a threat to the general public in any way and should not be seen as a threat. These exotic animals hold just as much sentimental value as the domesticated dog to most owners. These animals are contained, not running lose to harm innocent passers-by.

I urge you to consider instead a legislation of education and to pass an ordinance against the abuse of these exotic animals as other domestic animals enjoy the privilege of such laws. Perhaps a more educated public will allay fears that are taught from ignorance. If it is the concern of the council members that some of these exotics will escape, pass an ordinance demanding the correct environment be provided for these animals. It is, after all, ignorance and fear that create problems with animals kept as pets, regardless of species, not the simple act of ownership. Please look to the state of Florida for a more reasonable and balanced act of legislation. We need to work together to find a beneficial solution for all parties instead of passing hard-and-fast ordinances. Please contact the PIJAC, Pet Industry Advisory Council for more information concerning the exotics mentioned in your proposed ordinance, or local professionals, to learn more facts about these animals before you act. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Erin Urban

One town gets is and others follow suit. Politicians are so bored that they start looking for any new laws to pass. Something needs to be done to STOP it!!!
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"Victory is reserved for those willing to pay its price"

I enjoy having boas and attending reptile shows in Chicago. Jason, I have emailed your post to the president and vice president of the IA Herp Society to see if they can help in this campaign to stop these laws from passing and spreading. I urge every one to contact anyone else who you think can stop this madness!!!!
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MY COLLECTION