Dreams of breeding ball pythons? Kiss them goodbye.
USFWS (i.e. the bad guy) is trying to pass a law lifting the requirements to add any animal to the Lacey Act. in order for burms, retics, anacondas, boas etc. to be added, extensive research must be done regarding how likely they are to become an invasive species vs how much money they generate in the hobby. burmese, retics, and anacondas are not nearly the money generators that ball pythons are, so with the current legislation, they would have a difficult time adding ball pythons to the Lacey Act.
IF THIS LAW PASSES, OUR BALL PYTHONS WILL BE NEXT. there is no doubt about it. they can add our BALL PYTHONS to the list as an invasive species with no scientific evidence to back it.
I don't think people realize the implications of this. This is the BIGGEST threat our hobby has ever been under. anyone that breeds ball pythons knows most sales are done over the internet to customers in other states. if the interstate transport of ball pythons is shut down, we are finished. game over.
here is a link to oppose this legislation:
http://usark.org/action-alert/usfws-...l-exclusion-2/
it gives you a few different places to send your emails, including your local representatives. please email all of them.
again mods: i know there is a thread about this in the pet laws section, but i dont think that section generates enough traffic that something like this NEEDS.
Dreams of breeding ball pythons? Kiss them goodbye.
the thing is, if this law is passed, nothing is stopping them from putting ANY animal on the list. it doesnt just stop with our reptiles. if they want, there is nothing stopping them from taking away our birds, gerbils, ferrets, guinea pigs, rabbits.. even "dangerous" dog breeds like pitbulls, rottweilers, chows, bull dogs.. pitbulls are already banned in a lot of places, but if added to the Lacey Act list and you want to move somewhere with your family and pittie, it's either get rid of your dog or commit a felony.
i know people have heard this before a thousand times ("they'll eventually come after our dogs"), but there were laws put into place to make sure the animals on the Lacey Act had (at least somewhat) justifiable reason to be on it. if this passes, the government doesn't have to give any reason to add another animal to it. they just will. we are slowly being stripped of our rights. not our privileges, but our RIGHTS to keep our pets. this is how they do it, they dont take them all at once, because that would cause uproar. they do it little by little and as secretly as possible.
Re: Dreams of breeding ball pythons? Kiss them goodbye.
Email sent, and to my rep also.