even if you have had the snake for years. Of course it will backfire in some cases. Our local herp society has taken in rescues and found homes for them for years. But Burmese pythons(one of the most common donations) were always hard to find homes for - now almost impossible! And none of us (who usually do the rescues) especially want to buy the permit and keep the unwieldy snakes ourselves. So we turn them down if we don't already know of a good home. We tell them not to release them, but if they give them to FWC (Fiah and Game), they will probably be euthanized. So what do you think they will do?

We have the same problem with red ear slider (turtles) - another new law. If you already had one, you can keep it. But not only are sales banned, you can't even give it away. So our herp society can't find a new home for these turtles. They are even more common donations than Burmese pythons. Now we can't take them and can't find homes for them. What do you think will happen next? If they had banned sales, but allowed donations, the shops wouldn't be selling them, we could find homes for the ones here already, and eventually the supply would dry up. They are not valuable enough for people to ask to have them shipped out of state, unfortunately.

New laws can have GREAT intentions. But there are very often unintended consequences. New, restrictive laws should only be passed after really careful study and thought about the REAL consequences likely, not just how good it sounds on paper.

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