# Site General > Pet Related Laws & Legislation >  USARK Action Alert: WV Reptile Ban

## bcr229

If you send your comments via email, CC your senators and delegate as well!

https://usark.org/2019-blog/action-a...a-reptile-ban/

Action Alert: West Virginia Reptile Ban

By USARK on July 9, 2019 

Comment deadline is July 22 at Noon!

The West Virginia Dangerous Wild Animal (DWA) Board has released its plan to ban many species of reptiles. We are early in the process but opposition needs to begin now.

The below species will be listed as DWA's in West Virginia. That means no future ownership, registration of current animals, compliance with ZAA caging standards (which are designed for public exhibition) and expensive liability insurance coverage for any grandfathered animals. Essentially, this should be considered a ban on all of these species:

1. constrictor snakes greater than six feet;
2. ALL venomous snakes;
3. ALL crocodilians;
4. monitor lizards greater than four feet;
5. venomous lizards.

What a DWA listing means:
1.registration of current animals;
2.$150 annual permit fee PER ANIMAL, as well as $10 annual application fee;
3.compliance with Zoological Association of America caging standards (which are designed for public exhibition, not private ownership);
4.maintain a $300,000 liability insurance policy (additional annual cost);
5.ban on future ownership;
6.only animals owned before the effective date can be kept (no additional animals in the future);
7.complete the application found at http://www.agriculture.wv.gov/forms/...%20Maxwell.pdf;
8.no breeding of listed species;
9.microchip or apply "legible tattoo" to all registered animals;
10.no public contact (meaning no educational outreach programs);
11.etc.

This proposal is utterly arbitrary. There is absolutely no science to support these amendments.

If you missed it, owning two boa constrictors for 10 years would cost you over $3,000 for state fees. If you own five reptiles on the list, that is over $7,500 for state fee costs. Additionally, you must maintain an expensive liability insurance policy specifically for keeping these animals (not a homeowner's policy). The caging standards are also inconceivable for private keepers and were written for zoological institutions which display these animals publicly.

Legislators decided not to ban these species when the DWA law passed in 2014. All of these species were originally considered but USARK worked to educate legislators, as well as inform them of due process violations. We also wrote and had the amendment introduced on the floor during the last hours of the legislative session which removed crocodilians and venomous snakes. Richard Stanley spearheaded the WV efforts and USARK was successful in protecting responsible herpetoculturists, including stopping a ban on all animals non-native to West Virginia. Now we must fight again.

Unfortunately, this new proposal is likely spurred by some irresponsible reptile shows taking advantage of the work USARK did in 2014 and 2015. This is unfortunate. USARK works to protect those who are responsible and it is beyond frustrating when those who were not even involved in the fight selfishly erase all of that hard work and effort. USARK cannot state loudly enough that we work to protect responsible herpetoculturists and do not condone the actions of those acting otherwise.

You can read the proposal at http://www.usark.org/wp-content/uplo...hange-2019.pdf.

What to do:

Remember to be professional and civil at all times.

Contact the WV DWA Board immediately! The deadline to comment is 12:00 (noon) July 22.

Mail letters to:
West Virginia Department of Agriculture
 c/o Madison Birchfield
 1900 Kanawha Blvd. East
 Charleston, WV 25305

Send emails to: rulescomments@wvda.us

Talking Points

1.West Virginia legislators voted against listing these species in 2015.
2.The research and rationale against listing these species were already presented and agreed upon in 2015.
3.The lengths for constrictor snakes and monitor lizards are arbitrary and capricious, lacking any logic or scientific support.
4.Legislators already decided that a ban on these was a bad idea, and that still holds true.
5.Contrary to any claims of a "grandfather clause," this is a ban and not common-sense regulation.
6.The permit fees associated with this ban are absurd and atrocious.
7.The reptile species to be added cannot be considered threats when responsibly maintained and housed.
8.A ban on these species is unjust and overreaching.
9.Collective punishment is an unconstitutional form of government.
10.Laws should punish irresponsible people and criminals, not responsible citizens.

Sample Letter

(please personalize and edit)

Dear West Virginia Dangerous Wild Animal Board,

As a responsible reptile keeper and West Virginia resident, I oppose the addition of several reptile species to the State's  Dangerous Wild Animal list. This proposal is not scientifically sound and is not supported by any legitimate statistics. Additionally, it is utterly arbitrary and capricious. This is either a personal attack upon reptile keepers or an overreaching measure to penalize irresponsible keepers by punishing everyone who keeps these reptiles, including responsible citizens.

Reptiles are kept in 5% of U.S. households as found by several national studies, so this proposal will affect many West Virginians. Prohibition of these reptiles was struck down by state legislators previously. They made the educated decision then and now this unjust proposal has resurfaced. I expect you to present legitimate science and sound logic to support this measure. My tax dollars are paying for this nonsense and I will do all I can to stop it.

Please accept that this is an illogical action and stop this proposal now. Do not add any reptile species to the state Dangerous Wild Animal list. Please research the history of this law and you will clearly see the species list does not need to be amended. Thank you for your time and understanding.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]
[consider adding city and state if WV residents]

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*Bogertophis* (07-09-2019),Craiga 01453 (07-10-2019),_MasonC2K_ (07-18-2019),_Phillydubs_ (07-09-2019),_Reinz_ (07-09-2019)

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## MarkL1561

Thats ridiculous! Honestly I would just keep it to myself and make sure nobody found out about my animals. I really dont see how this ban would help at all. Yes there are risk for introducing invasive species but that doesnt mean you ban owning them. Boats can transport invasive species like zebra mussels but using a boat on different lakes is not banned... As long as people are educated and proper precautions are made there is minimal risk. The only ban that makes sense to me is on venomous animals. Although I think permitting is suffice. Also, cats are one of the worst invasive species we have yet you can go and buy one at PetSmart for $30 no questions asked... They decimate bird populations yet there isnt any legislation like listed above for them. I think the majority of issues arise from lawmakers having zero understanding on the animals theyre creating regulations for. Theyre treated more negatively because theyre seen as more exotic because theyre not fluffy. I highly encourage everyone on this app to look into and join USARK. 


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*Bogertophis* (07-09-2019),_JRLongton_ (07-12-2019)

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## Reinz

Wow, with such high fees for the grandfathered reptiles it appears that they are actively trying to drive most of them out of the state.  :Mad:

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*Bogertophis* (07-09-2019),Craiga 01453 (07-10-2019)

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## Bogertophis

"1. constrictor snakes greater than six feet;"     :Rolleyes2:  

Hey, that's many harmless bull/pine/gopher snakes (Pituophis), & many harmless and even NATIVE rat snakes!   :Surprised:   This is ridiculous!

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## Skyrivers

The entire concept of this is terrifying for us keepers. I wonder if a lot of keepers will migrate out of the state? 




> Wow, with such high fees for the grandfathered reptiles it appears that they are actively trying to drive most of them out of the state.


I am also worried about the domino effect. If WV does this how long before more states do this?




> "1. constrictor snakes greater than six feet;"     
> 
> Hey, that's many harmless bull/pine/gopher snakes (Pituophis), & many harmless and even NATIVE rat snakes!    This is ridiculous!


I have a 6ft corn snake. Even some balls get over 6ft.

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## Burticus

I am curious, does West Virginia have an issue with large constrictors thriving in the wild or some kind of large effort into protecting these animals?  Those registration fees are unreal, I'm guessing you can register a dog or cat much cheaper than that and we all know how much time and effort is needed to keep up with strays etc.

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## Stewart_Reptiles

> I am also worried about the domino effect. If WV does this how long before more states do this?


In over a decade other states have tried this, there were even bans on exotics that were nation wide and everything from goldfish to parakeet to ball pythons were listed.

This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to support USARK and the work they do, and get involved even if it's not your state, too many people think "it will not happen to me".

Again this has been an ongoing issue for over a decade and we ALL need to support USARK.

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*bcr229* (07-10-2019),*Bogertophis* (07-10-2019),Craiga 01453 (07-10-2019),_Godzilla78_ (07-10-2019)

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## bcr229

> I am curious, does West Virginia have an issue with large constrictors thriving in the wild or some kind of large effort into protecting these animals?  Those registration fees are unreal, I'm guessing you can register a dog or cat much cheaper than that and we all know how much time and effort is needed to keep up with strays etc.


No boids can not survive our winters.  Most would likely perish from the cold by Thanksgiving.

This law was initially passed as a knee-jerk response to the incident in Ohio (and Ohio did pass its own restrictions).  Unfortunately in WV we get to deal with this every year as the DWA board is mandated to revisit the list annually.

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*Bogertophis* (07-10-2019),Burticus (07-10-2019),Craiga 01453 (07-10-2019)

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## sur3fir3

I sent an email to the emails listed in the article.  I suggest everyone here does the same.

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## sur3fir3

> No boids can not survive our winters.  Most would likely perish from the cold by Thanksgiving.
> 
> This law was initially passed as a knee-jerk response to the incident in Ohio (and Ohio did pass its own restrictions).  Unfortunately in WV we get to deal with this every year as the DWA board is mandated to revisit the list annually.


What incident in ohio?

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## Craiga 01453

Email sent. Let's all do our part before it affects all of our home States.

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*bcr229* (07-10-2019)

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## bcr229

> What incident in ohio?


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...imals/1640871/

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Craiga 01453 (07-10-2019)

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## sur3fir3

> https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...imals/1640871/


Wow. I dont even know what to say after reading that.

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## sur3fir3

C'mon Guys more of us need to write these emails.  This is very important.

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## bcr229

The deadline is tomorrow at noon, less than 12 hours away.  I sent in my comments to the board and also my elected officials.

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## bcr229

From the latest USARK update at https://mailchi.mp/usark/sac-ny-wv-2019 :

*UPDATE: West Virginia*
Thanks to an outpouring of opposition and education, *the WV DWA Board has withdrawn the proposed amendments to the Dangerous Wild Animals Act from consideration*. Thank you to all of those who supported our efforts to stop these additions to the State's Dangerous Wild Animal list.

 Previous Action Alert at www.usark.org/2019-blog/action-alert-west-virginia-reptile-ban/.

 :Party: 

 :Carouse: 

 :Headbang: 

 :Dancin' Banana:

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*Bogertophis* (09-25-2019)

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## Bogertophis

That was too close for comfort!   :Surprised:

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## bcr229

> That was too close for comfort!


Not even.  Thankfully the DWA Board can't simply change the list on a whim, they must make recommendations to our state legislators, who vote on the changes during the next legislative session.  The DWA Board simply took the first step in a multi-step process.

Since many of us who responded also CC'ed our elected officials in our emails, I suspect that had an effect as well.  Next year is a big election year for the state and our legislators really don't want to deal with anything too controversial.

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## bcr229

HB 4678 was introduced yesterday in the WV House.  It's a start at getting rid of the DWA.  Please get in touch with your state legiscritters and ask them to support it.

http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_St...type=RS&i=4678

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