Great, now we have to fight OTHER animal lovers

[millertime89]

the humane society has had a knee jerk reaction to the tragedy in Ohio and is calling for a ban on interstate sale of large snakes (retics, burms, condas, and boas, among others) I was a member, but after recieving this email, I am no longer.

Critical regulations proposed by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to curb the cruel, dangerous, and harmful ecological consequences associated with the trade in nonnative, large constrictor snakes have been delayed due to grossly exaggerated economic claims from the reptile industry.

The Obama Administration should finalize a proposed rule to ban the interstate trade in nine species of large constrictor snakes including Burmese pythons and anacondas. A two-year-old girl was killed in Florida in 2009 when her family's python escaped from its tank and suffocated her. These particular species not only pose a threat to public safety, but also have been determined by the U.S. Geological Survey to pose the greatest risk of wreaking ecological havoc on our natural resources. These concerns should outweigh any by those in the snake industry to turn a profit.

Hopefully, this Administration will not allow special interests to impede a rule that is good for the public, animals, and the environment.

Here's what I changed it to:
The Obama Administration should NOT finalize a proposed rule to ban the interstate trade in nine species of large constrictor snakes including Burmese pythons and anacondas. Yes, a two-year-old girl was killed in Florida in 2009 when her family's python escaped from its tank and suffocated her. However these particular species do not pose a threat to public safety, but also have been wrongly determined by the U.S. Geological Survey to pose the greatest risk of wreaking ecological havoc on our natural resources. These concerns are ill founded, the snakes are tropical and as such can not survive on their own north of the tropical climate of the Everglades and South Florida for very long. The previous winter saw a massive die off in escaped snake species. Much research has been done by professional herpetologists and biologists proving this and a knee jerk reaction to the tragedy in Ohio is not the answer, especially when the animals that were released were lions, tigers, bears, and primates. Further research is needed, and subspecies of these large snakes such as dwarf burmese pythons and super dwarf reticulated pythons (maximum length around 7 feet) deserve special consideration. Furthermore the outright ban on these beautiful creatures is unnecessary, it should be the burden of the keeper that desires to house and care for these animals to obtain a license to allow them to do just that. A complete ban is completely unnecessary and will harm the livelihood of people such as Jay Brewer (Prehistoric Pets, CA) and Bob Clark (Bob Clark Captive Bred Reptiles, CA) as well as many others. At a time when many people are without jobs, why would you work towards a law that would put many more without jobs?