Jack Hanna Phone Interview

As promised here is Jack's position on the reptile problem. He had a lot more to say but I edited it down to the most important things. As you'll hear in this clip he is for the responsible ownership of reptiles. I personally really want to thank Jack for helping out with this. He had nothing to gain by standing up for us and I for one am a much larger fan of his after seeing how much he cares about all animals. Thanks, Brian(BHB)

http://snakebytes.tumblr.com/post/29...na-on-reptiles

It really seemed like he was both sympathetic to the real problem in Fl. and also at the same time concerned that this law will far reach it's stated / intended impact area.

We need to have Jack speaking out about this at his appearances.

Thanks for posting this.

Did you ask him about this?
YouTube - Snakes Alive

I still do not agree with him. Once again he brought up the southern states as "warm states" including south carolina. I could take all of my burmese pythons outside in greenville south carolina right now and release them all. Not one of them would survive and I would expect someone that has one of the largest zoos in america and works with these animals on a daily basis to know that. I like to keep my house in the 60-70 degree range because I like cold weather so my herps are not even safe in my home in south carolina. They all have heat tape or radiant heat panels or heat lights and they also have a heater that heats there room to 80-85 degress at all times. I dont think the agreement papers would work. I just dont see that as something that would work but its a start and anything to get congress off our backs. I liked jack alot when I was growing up but It just blows my mind when people think exotics can survive in south carolina and georgia. We do get pretty hot in the summer but we also freeze in the winter.

I like his idea of signing a contract to have the animal returned to the breeder. It is much like what responsible dog breeders do, have their buyers sign a contract to return the dog if at any time the owner does not want it. If this was a requirement of breeders,I think it would deter irresponsible breeders. They would probably be more likely to screen who they sell to, as they do not want a ton of animals coming back to them in the future.

Jack's idea is taking a concept that is the ideal in the dog world (which itself is plagued with irresponsible breeders, puppy mills, and tons of animals in shelters) and tries to apply it to the reptile world. The only problem I see is that it would have to be a requirement, where as in the dog world it is only "preferred". There are still lots of irresponsible breeders in the dog world, and in the reptile world, if we want to preserve our rights to keep these animals, perhaps it would have to become the reality and not just the ideal. Not really sure how that would be done though? Really irresponsible breeding and selling is a problem in every type of animal, dogs, horses, cats, you see it everywhere.

It is too bad reptiles are singled out as much as they are. But the reality is that the spotlight is on herps, and because of that, we need to do something about it. Perhaps the reason for this is that there is not a universal solution for the disposal of unwanted reptiles. Dogs and cats have animal shelters, horses have rescue organizations, and the unfortunate method of slaughter. There really is no solution out there for unwanted reptiles, so either there needs to be one, or more control over who they go to in the first place, or both. But in my opinion this issue stems from the lack of a place for unwanted reptiles to go. Animal shelters are already stretched to their limits financially, so few are equipped to take these animals. Zoos are already full to capacity too, so another solution needs to be developed.

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Originally Posted by Emmastaff

I like his idea of signing a contract to have the animal returned to the breeder. It is much like what responsible dog breeders do, have their buyers sign a contract to return the dog if at any time the owner does not want it. If this was a requirement of breeders,I think it would deter irresponsible breeders. They would probably be more likely to screen who they sell to, as they do not want a ton of animals coming back to them in the future.

Jack's idea is taking a concept that is the ideal in the dog world (which itself is plagued with irresponsible breeders, puppy mills, and tons of animals in shelters) and tries to apply it to the reptile world. The only problem I see is that it would have to be a requirement, where as in the dog world it is only "preferred". There are still lots of irresponsible breeders in the dog world, and in the reptile world, if we want to preserve our rights to keep these animals, perhaps it would have to become the reality and not just the ideal. Not really sure how that would be done though? Really irresponsible breeding and selling is a problem in every type of animal, dogs, horses, cats, you see it everywhere.

It is too bad reptiles are singled out as much as they are. But the reality is that the spotlight is on herps, and because of that, we need to do something about it. Perhaps the reason for this is that there is not a universal solution for the disposal of unwanted reptiles. Dogs and cats have animal shelters, horses have rescue organizations, and the unfortunate method of slaughter. There really is no solution out there for unwanted reptiles, so either there needs to be one, or more control over who they go to in the first place.

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I don't like that idea one bit..It's not my responsibility as a breeder to make sure your pet gets looked after when you "Don't want it" anymore. IT doesn't work in dogs or cats..why they hell would we think it works differently in reptiles..

There is a solution to unwanted Reptiles..DON"T FREAKING BUY ONE IF YOU CAN"T CARE FOR IT FOR IT'S ENTIRE LIFE SPAN..

Responsible Pet Ownership not Disposable Pet Ownership.

The problem is that it puts all the commitment on the breeder and requires none of the keeper.. You want me to take it back..fine there is a 75% restocking fee based on its current market value.

Great interview! Hang on a second, my other line is beeping........

Frog, I totally understand where you are coming from. But I think this is the way the outside world views it. The problem is, people are still going to buy reptiles who shouldn't, and there still needs to be some sort of solution for the unwanted ones. I don't know, but I think that dog breeders who do follow this protocol get very few dogs back. So I am thinking that they screen very carefully who they go to and probably breed an animal of such quality that few people find the need to return them. The dogs from these types of breeders are not the ones ending up in shelters. (By the way, I am speaking from the dog world view because this is the world I am most familiar with since I am involved in dog training, which of course has made me very familiar with the unwanted dog crisis). Jacks idea did remind me of how responsible dog breeders do things. The problem I suppose with taking back reptiles is that they live so long. You could be 80 years old and getting a call to take back some snake you sold 20 years ago.... the longevity of the snake is probably a contributing factor to the problem of what to do with unwanted animals.

Boy, he talks almost as much as you do, Brian! :P

I keed, I keed! I enjoy chatting with you when we get a chance to! :D

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Originally Posted by Emmastaff

Frog, I totally understand where you are coming from. But I think this is the way the outside world views it. The problem is, people are still going to buy reptiles who shouldn't, and there still needs to be some sort of solution for the unwanted ones. I don't know, but I think that dog breeders who do follow this protocol get very few dogs back. So I am thinking that they screen very carefully who they go to and probably breed an animal of such quality that few people find the need to return them. The dogs from these types of breeders are not the ones ending up in shelters. (By the way, I am speaking from the dog world view because this is the world I am most familiar with since I am involved in dog training, which of course has made me very familiar with the unwanted dog crisis). Jacks idea did remind me of how responsible dog breeders do things. The problem I suppose with taking back reptiles is that they live so long. You could be 80 years old and getting a call to take back some snake you sold 20 years ago.... the longevity of the snake is probably a contributing factor to the problem of what to do with unwanted animals.

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And I totally get that but you wouldn't expect to take your car back to the dealership and just expect them to take it, or call the person who sold you your house and ask them to take it back..

I think that if these animals were priced a little higher that might cut down on some of it.. I mean you wouldn't spend 200.00 on a snake and then just turn it loose..

I really would like to see that breeders have to PIT tag the animals and register that with the USFW so if it is let go the USFW can find out who it was sold to and last contact and all that info. Then put a huge fine and min. jail time on it like 250,000.00 and 5 years in jail for releasing it or selling one with out the PIT tag..I mean you get that for copying a DVD..

The breeder has done all he can to make sure the person is responsible and the Government has recourse, and the owner has huge incentive to not release or to think long and hard about buying one..

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Originally Posted by Denial

Did you ask him about this?
YouTube - Snakes Alive

I still do not agree with him. Once again he brought up the southern states as "warm states" including south carolina. I could take all of my burmese pythons outside in greenville south carolina right now and release them all. Not one of them would survive and I would expect someone that has one of the largest zoos in america and works with these animals on a daily basis to know that. I like to keep my house in the 60-70 degree range because I like cold weather so my herps are not even safe in my home in south carolina. They all have heat tape or radiant heat panels or heat lights and they also have a heater that heats there room to 80-85 degress at all times. I dont think the agreement papers would work. I just dont see that as something that would work but its a start and anything to get congress off our backs. I liked jack alot when I was growing up but It just blows my mind when people think exotics can survive in south carolina and georgia. We do get pretty hot in the summer but we also freeze in the winter.

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Yeah, that's what this interview was about??? You have to remember that from his point he sees a problem, he's not an expert, he just knows there is a problem. If you think there is no problem then I think you are looking at things from a bias stand point. There are feral Burmese in the Everglades, can they live elsewhere?? Nobody can really say for sure. I hope not for our sake, but the point is that is what has got us here. Jack does not understand our hobby anymore then we understand how to run a zoo. He is concerned for the animals and our hobby. He supports our hobby as stated in this interview. For anyone that has done an interview you'd know that sometimes things sound different then what you want them too. He was asked to go on Fox for an interview about the everglades and they hit him with those questions. He was unprepared and unaware of the ambush style reporting. If you want to keep going back to that instead of appreciating him taking time our of his busy schedule to let us reptile people know that he is behind us, then I guess you can choose to so that. I for one will take any and all support and from a big name like Jack Hanna it can only help our fight. Thanks, Brian(BHB)

I have to respectfully disagree wirh Jack. I live in Southern California and there is no way any of the 9 exotic snakes could survive here. It is a desert and it does get cold, frost etc... As far as sending them back, everytime a snake gets sick and people dont want to deal with it, they will send it back. Example a $60 snake that needs $150 in vet care. I have spent over $400 on one animal. Not only does the breeder get stuck with the problems of irresponsible owners but also puts the rest of his collection in jeopardy!

Now I could see organizing reptile rescues and supporting them but Jack obviously is overlooking alot of facts. or is just unaware of the reality of the situation.

I'd like to see Jack passing this on to the media, if he truly supports responsible ownership. I haven't listened to it yet, but will after this post. With us owners, it's kind of preaching to the choir. It's our politicians that need this info.

Thanks to Jack for taking the time to express his views.

I would happily take back any and all animals I sell, to then rehome them or just keep them. But I won't buy them back, I'm not a bank and that animal is not a savings bond. I'm not sure something like that would be successful, since a lot of people are more interested in money than the best home. Craigslist is full of rehoming fees that look an awful lot like purchase prices.

I think that whether we agree or not, Jack is giving us valuable insight into the view of the non-herp community. Whether or not we agree that these reptiles can survive in various states is not the complete issue. If we lose ourselves in details like that, we will lose this fight.

The issue that I personally heard Jack bringing to our attention is the concern of what happens to the unwanted reptiles. Whether or not they can survive in the wild, yes, is important. However, even if a burmese python can only survive for say 50 days in a "warm state", it still could inflict damage in those short 50 days in some people's opinions. It still could eat the endangered pocket gopher native only to a small sector of that area (Yes, this animal is fictional LOL!) It still could eat a beloved family pet, and some people don't care how long it can survive, if it is out there at all it is a problem!
I am one who believes we must understand our opposition in order to win the battle. The problem from their view point is what happens to the unwanted reptiles? Jack graciously brought this issue to our attention. Whether we agree or not on where they can or cannot survive, we must address this issue. If we don't, the government will do it for us. So we can try to come up with a solution that will benefit us, the reptile community, or we can leave it to the government who would just as happily end our rights to own these animals. We need to bring to their attention the facts, but we must understand their point of view very well in order to produce the best argument we can. I think sometimes we get lost in "Well I don't agree with that", and then fail to really try to see things from their perspective.
I think Jack provided us with a valuable thing when he agreed to that interview, and gave us his opinion. His gives us much needed insight into the mindset of the zoological community. If we can get them on our side, and address their concerns, we may win this battle yet!

Hi,

I'd just like to thank you for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to make sure he got to put his opinions out there and clarify things. :colbert2:

We have all watched news reports and become aware of bias and misleading use of quotes and statistics and it's nice to hear someone be allowed to fully explain his stance rather than a 30 second soundbite.


dr del

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Originally Posted by BHB

Yeah, that's what this interview was about??? You have to remember that from his point he sees a problem, he's not an expert, he just knows there is a problem. If you think there is no problem then I think you are looking at things from a bias stand point. There are feral Burmese in the Everglades, can they live elsewhere?? Nobody can really say for sure. I hope not for our sake, but the point is that is what has got us here. Jack does not understand our hobby anymore then we understand how to run a zoo. He is concerned for the animals and our hobby. He supports our hobby as stated in this interview. For anyone that has done an interview you'd know that sometimes things sound different then what you want them too. He was asked to go on Fox for an interview about the everglades and they hit him with those questions. He was unprepared and unaware of the ambush style reporting. If you want to keep going back to that instead of appreciating him taking time our of his busy schedule to let us reptile people know that he is behind us, then I guess you can choose to so that. I for one will take any and all support and from a big name like Jack Hanna it can only help our fight. Thanks, Brian(BHB)

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Brian im not sure where you got that I didnt think there was a problem in the everglades. Sure there are burmese pythons in the everglades im sure there are boas, reticulated pythons, anacondas, and many other exotics in there to. I however do not believe there are 100,000 of them in there. I do agree that florida has a problem but florida has also addressed the problem and is dealing with the problem. It needs to be state addressed not federal. I do thank jack for taking the time out of his schedule to do an interview with you but the damage is done with the interview he did with fox. Millions have seen that. Not everyone is going to here this interview. If he is behind the reptile hobby he needs to go public with his statements. Id love for him to go back with fox and do another interview if hes for the reptile hobby. I wasnt trying to argue or anything I just dont agree with jack.

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Originally Posted by Denial

Brian im not sure where you got that I didnt think there was a problem in the everglades. Sure there are burmese pythons in the everglades im sure there are boas, reticulated pythons, anacondas, and many other exotics in there to. I however do not believe there are 100,000 of them in there. I do agree that florida has a problem but florida has also addressed the problem and is dealing with the problem. It needs to be state addressed not federal. I do thank jack for taking the time out of his schedule to do an interview with you but the damage is done with the interview he did with fox. Millions have seen that. Not everyone is going to here this interview. If he is behind the reptile hobby he needs to go public with his statements. Id love for him to go back with fox and do another interview if hes for the reptile hobby. I wasnt trying to argue or anything I just dont agree with jack.

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Not trying to argue with you in anyway, but why would Jack go out of his way more then he already has. In no way did it benafit Jack to do this interview, he did it because he wanted to show his support for us. You can not put the cork back in the bottle and I know that Jack was not happy with the way the Fox interview turned out. You have to remember that news organizations do not just allow you to go back on to clear things up. They wanted it to sound the way it did, that's whay thay ambushed him without letting him know what they were going to ask. I have no doubt that if Jack does any further interviews on this topic the outcome will be a lot different. In the end I'm surprised that we as a community are always looking for someone to blame. We put ourselves into a bad position and we have not offered up any solutions that the politicians are willing to live with. I'm not saying I agree with Jacks position on taking animals back, but I can assure you that we need to increase our education to our cumstomers or we'll lose more and more of the hobby until we have nothing left. In the end I think it was awesome that a high profiled guy like Jack Hanna even cares what we think. I can assure you that most of the animal personalities do not. Ask yourself where they have been?? I'm friends with Nigel Marvin and he had a great platform to help us on the tonight show last week and not a peep. I'm not trying to blame him, just pointing out a fact that if it does not effect them they probably don't care. That's why I was blown away that Jack did care. Wether we agree or disagree with what he stated, we should be very thankful for his concern for our hobby. Thanks, Brian(BHB)

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Originally Posted by BHB

Not trying to argue with you in anyway, but why would Jack go out of his way more then he already has. In no way did it benafit Jack to do this interview, he did it because he wanted to show his support for us. You can not put the cork back in the bottle and I know that Jack was not happy with the way the Fox interview turned out. You have to remember that news organizations do not just allow you to go back on to clear things up. They wanted it to sound the way it did, that's whay thay ambushed him without letting him know what they were going to ask. I have no doubt that if Jack does any further interviews on this topic the outcome will be a lot different. In the end I'm surprised that we as a community are always looking for someone to blame. We put ourselves into a bad position and we have not offered up any solutions that the politicians are willing to live with. I'm not saying I agree with Jacks position on taking animals back, but I can assure you that we need to increase our education to our cumstomers or we'll lose more and more of the hobby until we have nothing left. In the end I think it was awesome that a high profiled guy like Jack Hanna even cares what we think. I can assure you that most of the animal personalities do not. Ask yourself where they have been?? I'm friends with Nigel Marvin and he had a great platform to help us on the tonight show last week and not a peep. I'm not trying to blame him, just pointing out a fact that if it does not effect them they probably don't care. That's why I was blown away that Jack did care. Wether we agree or disagree with what he stated, we should be very thankful for his concern for our hobby. Thanks, Brian(BHB)

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You are right Brian, I guess we are all a bit frustrated with whats been going on and we prefer that someone agree with us.

As USARK always says its about education and responsible reptile ownership. Unfortunately many folks are neither and we as a community are being held responsible.

A friend told me today that he was in a pet shop recenlty and saw a young boy ready to purchase a large constrictor snake. The employee was ready to send him out the door with a snake he was way to young and inexperienced to handle. He told the young man that he should instead buy a corn or something smaller, learn the ropes and get the much larger animal when he was older explaining that animal could easily overpower him if it wanted to and he would need quite a large cage which he couldnt afford and the tank he had at home would not contain him. This kind of scenario is what winds up in the news and gives us all a bad name. The store employee was a bit irate but in the end the boy got the correct animal for his age and cage requirements.

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Originally Posted by BHB

Not trying to argue with you in anyway, but why would Jack go out of his way more then he already has. In no way did it benafit Jack to do this interview, he did it because he wanted to show his support for us. You can not put the cork back in the bottle and I know that Jack was not happy with the way the Fox interview turned out. You have to remember that news organizations do not just allow you to go back on to clear things up. They wanted it to sound the way it did, that's whay thay ambushed him without letting him know what they were going to ask. I have no doubt that if Jack does any further interviews on this topic the outcome will be a lot different. In the end I'm surprised that we as a community are always looking for someone to blame. We put ourselves into a bad position and we have not offered up any solutions that the politicians are willing to live with. I'm not saying I agree with Jacks position on taking animals back, but I can assure you that we need to increase our education to our cumstomers or we'll lose more and more of the hobby until we have nothing left. In the end I think it was awesome that a high profiled guy like Jack Hanna even cares what we think. I can assure you that most of the animal personalities do not. Ask yourself where they have been?? I'm friends with Nigel Marvin and he had a great platform to help us on the tonight show last week and not a peep. I'm not trying to blame him, just pointing out a fact that if it does not effect them they probably don't care. That's why I was blown away that Jack did care. Wether we agree or disagree with what he stated, we should be very thankful for his concern for our hobby. Thanks, Brian(BHB)

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Like I said I do thank jack for taking his time to do an interview with you about his thoughts on the reptile hobby. And I do agree with you it is sad that reptile community is split in groups it shouldnt be like that I think everyone should fight for any reptile that is going up to be banned whether they personally keep it or not. I do think something needs to be done I just dont think the politicians are going to agree to a waiver from the reptile breeder and be done with it. I think reptiles should come with chips already implanted in them when sold. (the breeder can add the price of the chip in the amount the snake is sold for so to not loose any profit) And if that snake is caught then the owner needs to be held responsible not the entire community. But hopefully jack will be offered another news spot and shed some good light on the reptile community. And if your talking about the nigel marvin late show that I saw with prehistoric pets that was just extremely upsetting. Ive never met nigel but he appeared a little intoxicated. Or at least acted like it. And I love how he made sure to bring a burmese python "from the everglades"

I looked over this whole post and read everything that all have said and it is clear to me that people are so lost at what the major issue is.

Let me explain, I have worked for and with Jack for about 7 years now. I am somewhat new to the snake world and currently only have ball pythons, but I am not new to reptiles in general. I will start by saying that I am 100% agianst the banning of these animals as far as interstate traveling goes outside of Florida. However, there is a major issue going on in Florida that someone or some group needs to come up with answers for. I truely think that several MAJOR issues are being glanced over, some that Brain just touched on in his last post and some that he has touched on in other posts.

FOX News is always been know for ambush reporting, however, its nothing that we have experienced from them before. When Jack went on the interview i can tell you he probably didn't even know what the bill fully stated and i would guess FOX liked it that way. It was clear that the host was agianst snakes and I would guess that they felt Jack was going to be agianst the industry too. Anytime you listen to a news report that is 100% one sided then it can easily make someone involved look one sided too. However, if you go back and listen to the interview never does he mention that he is for the ban on these 9 species, he states: "its the right approach". So maybe one can take that as he isn't supporting us. But i would take it another way, maybe understanding Jack would help. As all of us know he has spent his life educating people about animals and conservation, majority of the time this is geared towards wild animals. So with that being said Jack is very keen on what is happening in the wild in Florida, as far as some of the speices being found and doing harm to native wildlife and such. He does not understand the reptile industry and especially snakes. Brain can vouch that when he told Jack he has over 50,000 snakes Jacks mouth about hit the floor. Everyone here is passionate about snakes just like Jack is passionate about wild animals.

Once we organized Brians interview Jack was more aware of exactly what
s373 was about. Jack by no means is agianst people having snakes or reptiles as long as they are responsible with those animals, just like a zoo has to be responsible with their animals. However, the fact of being responsible is what has gotten us ALL into this mess. You need to understand one thing and that is Jack looks at this issue as a problem in the wild and we look at this issue as us losing our love and some , our income. And that is most likely why everyone thought Jack was agianst the industry, but i can tell you he is by no means for all of us losing out in this fight.

We can sit here and say how unfair it is, and i would agree, but the issue is what it is and right now its time we figure out how to work this out. Well let me correct myself we should have figured something out BEFORE it left commitee. This is where i have major issues right now, I still hear people say "lets kill the bill". I will tell you this we are FAR past that point right now.

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Originally Posted by [B

Freakie_frog[/B];1230751]The problem is that it puts all the commitment on the breeder and requires none of the keeper.. You want me to take it back..fine there is a 75% restocking fee based on its current market value.

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Freakie, i understand what your saying that the idea of an agreement between the breeder and buyer may seem like a pain and not fair to those that are responsible. However, lets clearly understand one thing as long as there are those that are irresposible than those responsible will be effected. The major issue in all this isn't all the people that breed. There was another post about what happened in the pet store, to me, that is where is this issue lies. But at the same point someone who breeds has to be selling to those stores that aren't thinking about who buys the snake and could careless what they do with it from there. Something needs to be done to show that we can come together and be responsible, I just hope its not too late.

We have to come together as the industry and figure out a way that we can say look we are trying to do our part. The hard part is sometimes you have to give some to get some; we have passed the "kill the bill" time and we must do what is needed to try to end this mess.

Take what i have posted how you will, but understand that Jack is for responsible ownership but knows there is something that needs to be done to help the wild. As an industry it is our job to come to the point or the government will do it for us, my guess not one of us will like what they deside.

I dont think anyone disagrees with you that something needs to be done. But florida has been working on the problem. They just started the organized hunts and the roc permits have not been in place for that long theres still people in florida that do not know about them. This needs to be addressed on a state level. Im sure everyone is aware that florida has exotics snakes. But we need scientific proof that they are harming the everglades before they jump on the banwagon and take away interstate transport and importation. Im sure there not helping the everglades but I dont believe for a second that there down there eating everything and that they have no natural predators. Just imagine how many baby burms are being swallowed by alligators and birds and other predators? What about the NATIONS feral cat problem? To me thats something more serious as to where we have burmese pythons in our everglades we have cats EVERYWHERE! Think of the damage they do to our ecosystem but nobody cares because there fluffy and cute. Yes there are burms in our everglades yes we need to do something about it but we need to learn more about the situation. We need to tag them and track them and find out where there at and w hat there doing in there first! We dont need to throw a skinned hide up on a table in a commitee meeting and scare everyone.

Like jack hannah or not, he is probably in a tough position. If i remember correctly, he started out in the reptile house at columbus zoo.

most of the people who work in the herp aquarium are snake guys just like you and i. but when they reach the level of fame like jack hannah has there is a lot of pressure on them to have their personal opinions reflect those of the zoo. which means the zoo administration and upper brass that support the zoo.

most of the higher ups at zoos are against private ownership of exotics.

Thank you as always Brian for going above and beyond helping us all out. I in no way take this a bad stance on Mr. hannahs part. I agree that the media will always, just like politicians, government etc present half truth, half story, half information in ways that serves them the best. I feel I fall in line with Mr. hannah and his beliefs. This ban as mentioned before is not appropriate, it is not accurate.

In another way of looking at it, it would be similar to having legislation pass that bans dogs because of issues with a couple breeds that fall within the class. Now i truely feel it is irresponsible for us to not understand what drives this issue, this bill, there is a message at the bottem of it. We as hobbyist, breeders, reptile owners need to acknowledge that some things need to improve within this industry. There is nothing out there business wise that cannot be improved, if it does not change, it will die.

Saying all reptiles need to be banned and the stance of the HSUS is wrong!
Saying there are no issues leave us alone is just as bad????

Im glad to hear your last point because i think its one of the major things i keep talking about.

It sucks that all the responsible breeders/owners have to get lumped in with those that are letting this snakes go in the wild. But it is up to us as an industry to figure out a way to draw attention (good attention) back to our industry and this issue. The way it stands right now, if we don't show that we can figure out away to clear the responsible owners/breeders than this whole thing will slide right through the voting process with no restraint. However, let me ask those out there is everyone truely being reponsible. There are those breeders that will sell their snakes and stay in contact with the people they have sold the snake to. Most of these breeders actually become friends with those that they sell too, such as Brain and myself. However, go to any reptile show and you will clearly see those breeders that seel a snake to someone and not ask anything of the new owner. The owner walks out the door with a new snake and the breeders washes their hands of it.....now think how responsible is that??

I get that type of practice has been done for years, but right now with this bill sitting in congress we have to learn to change some things...and maybe its this practice that needs to be changed. So how do you do this? Many have commented about the way some dog breeders operate and that may be just the answer. Jack made comments about setting up some agreement with the breeder and owner, as it may seem like a pain in the butt I think it truely is the answer. lets look at it hypothetically:

Say some of the big names in the industry or for that matter anyone designs or establishes an organization along the lines of AKC....not that i agree with them 100% of the time. This organization can basically be the leading force in this industry and has to be strong from top to bottom. At this point other breeders can apply for membership, the organization then will vote on these people to be allowed to be licensed by this organization....lets call this organization Snakes Breeder Association.

The voting is going to have to be the strongest and most indepth part because to me this will be the issue that congress will want to see. There will be criteria that allows the group to vote yea or nea. Once accepted in then all will be licensed through SBA. By rules all breeders must pit tag any young snakes of specific species (9 snakes) and record all data of who they are selling the snakes to.

So there is a breakdown of what i think needs to happen. I know it sounds like a pain in the butt and sounds like a hell of a lot of work. It is for a industry that does alot of sales at reptile shows it will be a pain, but the whole underlining thing to remember is this....right know we have NO choice... we have to figure out a way to say to congress look take this off the floor and bring it back into committee...work with us to develope something to end the problem.

Trust me one thing, HSUS is one notch below PETA but has a heck of alot more money coming...because all they care about is dogs and cats, right???:colbert: The difference is PETA will do the extreme and right isn't as powerful as many think....HSUS is VERY powerful. In my work we deal with these two all the time and if i have learned one thing its this, if HSUS wants something to happen they will get "something" to happen. It may not be their initial end but THEY WILL get something, we need to set our industry up to never have to deal with this.... that means we need to show how we WILL fix this problem even if its not ALL of ours problem