Write to your reps!!!!!!! - Page 2

BP_okay · 05-19-09, 07:49 PM

I completely agree with Willow and the others about the poorly worded letter. I just wonder, if this terrible bill, or another in the future does pass, if those who already own the reptiles in the bill will be grandfathered in. Btw, sorry about ending the previous sentence in a preposition, but I really didn't know how to word that idea...j/k

Kmef07 · 05-19-09, 08:56 PM

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sorry about ending the previous sentence in a preposition, but I really didn't know how to word that idea

Ok you just took the english nerd cake from sandy lol.

Chu'Wuti · 05-20-09, 09:18 AM

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you just took the english nerd cake from sandy

Hah! ROFL!

Will0W783 · 05-20-09, 09:23 AM

I think we would all get grandfathered into the bill. From what I read on HR669, people who legally owned reptiles or other exotics at the time that particular species was made illegal would be able to keep them; they just would not be able to cross state lines with them, so forget about moving across country.

Kmef07 · 05-20-09, 10:02 AM

And they would not be able to breed them or sell them of course. I think it would create one hell of a black market for reptiles and other exotic pets.

BP_okay · 05-20-09, 10:11 AM

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Originally Posted by Kmef07

Ok you just took the english nerd cake from sandy lol.

ROFL myself, Sandy. Well, as you probably remember, I am the 27-year-old who is not familiar with the forum lingo...but I am improving.

Willow, at least we could keep our current reptiles, but it's an all around horrible bill that would create a huge black market,(as stated by Kmef). It would cost many people a great deal; financially, emotionally, etc. I sure hope Sandy is right in that this bill dies in both committees.

Traci

Kmef07 · 05-20-09, 11:11 AM

ya and if they were to create the black market for it then reptiles would become to expensive. When stuff is illegal there is many more people that want it than when it is legal. if they ever made pot legal here then it would no be as big of a deal to most people. People always want what they aren't supposed to have.

Kmef07 · 05-20-09, 11:17 AM

and in regards to what the first post said, If you want your reps to think you are stupid and ignorant then threaten them. if you want them to think you are civilized and decent and have any credibility at all then be nice and respectfull and don't attack them. I am currently arguing a ticket i received with a little village where there is a mayors court and Me and the officer that wrote the ticket were pretty much being asses to each other by the end of the convo. I wasnt' speeding and he was misquoting every law to try and make me think i was wrong. e.x. Telling me my radar detector is illegal in Ohio which it is not... but anyways the point is that I wrote a nice letter to the cheif that expalined i thought the officer was fatigued and I was careful not to attack the officer and put the chief in defense mode. He listened to my case and I preseneted FACTS I did not convey any emotion because they don't care how you feel about something. You have to provide facts facts facts that show that you know your stuff and that they can't put a good case against you. In the HR669 email you wrote they could spin that against you and say look he can't control himself so how can he control a big snake? That makes you look bad!! we as reptile owners have to prove that we are responsible and can handle ourselves and our reptiles.

sorry for the long post but hopefully this proves a point

Chu'Wuti · 05-21-09, 06:12 AM

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in the hr669 email you wrote they could spin that against you and say look he can't control himself so how can he control a big snake? That makes you look bad!! We as reptile owners have to prove that we are responsible and can handle ourselves and our reptiles.

well said.

Will0W783 · 05-21-09, 07:28 AM

I'm just glad it didn't pass, but I'm worried about what they will come up with next...
The vast majority of herp owners are responsible people who love and care for their animals, the government has no right telling us we can't have them, when people dump dogs and cats by the side of the roads all the time. That is horrible too, and the stray cat/dog populations cause far more trouble than a few big snakes ever would. The government needs to worry about fixing the economy that they screwed up before they come bother the "little guys" who are minding their own business and making money however they can to pay the bills.

Kmef07 · 05-21-09, 11:53 AM

There are too many organizations that would stand by the reptile comunity. think about all the activists that speak out against the goverment restricting our freedom. one well written letter to a group like that and you would have people that dont' even care about herps also on our side just because they like to argue about rights.

I don't forsee a bill like that ever passing the way it is written. It might pass if they were to restrict just a few like the anaconda and retic but even that would be hard to get passed i think. California might pass a state law that restricts everything but who cares about them because in a couple hundred more years they are going to be a little island off the coast.

BP_okay · 05-21-09, 12:52 PM

Do you think the ACLU would jump on this? They seem like the type of organization that has alot of clout, a ndwould fight for us. I know they are controversial, but if they can get the job done, so be it

Well, Kmef, even if they achieve island status, they will certainly be bankrupt.

Chu'Wuti · 05-21-09, 01:45 PM

CA can become a little island off the coast . . . as long as it doesn't become a little island all alone! (as one SF story years ago suggested . . . can't remember the author . . .)

HMT · 05-22-09, 09:08 PM

I'm glad it didn't pass federally, but I am one of the few who actually would support a ban for certain animals on a state-by-state basis. Non-native animals can wreak havoc to the local wildlife, and have caused native animals to become extinct on local levels in some areas. Non-native plants are even more damaging, and have cost some states millions of dollars trying to keep them under control, because they end up clogging up water-cleaning facilities.

If people were responsible pet owners, then it wouldn't be an issue. But obviously all it takes is a few idiots....

I'd like to see this as one of the first steps towards creating responsible pet ownership for all pets, and not just exotic ones.

Ridiculous sweeping laws like the one suggested - a ban on the federal level- will never survive. So don't get worked up about those. Instead focus on change on a local level that is not just good for YOU, but good for everyone.

/soapbox

Chu'Wuti · 05-23-09, 12:15 AM

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Non-native animals can wreak havoc to the local wildlife, and have caused native animals to become extinct on local levels in some areas. Non-native plants are even more damaging . . . If people were responsible pet owners, then it wouldn't be an issue. But obviously all it takes is a few idiots....

Yep, like the starling and African bees.

Today on NPR, there was a very interesting interview with a guy who had researched plants introduced from the UK to North America. In the UK, one particular plant supports something like 156 other species--insects, birds, etc. This plant was introduced in the U.S. about 400 years ago, and over the centuries, only FIVE native species have been able to adapt to live off that plant.

I just went & looked up the author who was interviewed: Doug Tallamy
Author, "Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants" (Timber Press, 2009)
Professor and Chair
Entomology and Wildlife Ecology
University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware

It was extremely interesting. If I recall correctly, he said the oak tree supports over 500 different species--that makes the oak tree one of the most important trees in North America for sustaining bio-diversity. The show was really interesting. If you want to listen to it, you can find it on npr.org in the Science Friday program: Science Friday Archives: Gardening with Native Plants

OK, enough from me. I should actually sleep tonight, as my oldest son & his wife are coming in the morning . . .