HSUS & Florida Politicians Undermine Efforts to Kill Constrictor Rule!

HSUS & Florida Politicians Undermine Efforts to Kill Constrictor Rule!

HSUS & Florida Politicians Undermine Efforts to Kill Constrictor Rule!

Most that have followed the development of the Constrictor Rule for the last several years know that last Tuesday US Fish & Wildlife Service enacted a final rule regarding the addition of Burmese python and 3 other constricting snakes. The following blog post from HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle demonstrates how HSUS coordinated a letter writing campaign from Senator Bill Nelson and several Florida Congressional members to sabotage the work of USARK to completely kill the Constrictor Rule. This is an interesting look into the mind and manipulations of the extreme Animal Right Industry. Please READ!

HSUS has recently been a BIG POT calling the little USARK Kettle Black... insinuating that USARK can buy our way through Washington like they do every day

The following is reproduced from HSUS; Humane Nation Blog: http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2012/0...nake-news.html

The Way Washington Works

It’s amazing how in Washington, D.C., the simplest things can turn into a mess.

Today’s announcement by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in the Everglades to ban the import and trade in Burmese pythons, yellow anacondas, and northern and southern African pythons is, to be sure, an important advance—for animal welfare, conservation, and public safety. These large constricting snakes are not suitable as pets; they suffer from capture in the wild and long-distance transport for trade; they can injure and kill people who possess or interact with them; and they can wreak havoc on our natural resources as an invasive species, killing native wildlife, including endangered animals.

But there’s a back story here, and it says so much about Washington, D.C., and how good policy and common-sense ideas get scuttled, delayed, or weakened in this town, to the detriment of the nation.

Here’s a timeline.

June 2006: The South Florida Water Management District petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) requesting the listing of Burmese pythons as injurious under the Lacey Act, a federal law that regulates trade in wildlife.

January 2008: FWS published a Notice of Inquiry in the Federal Register asking the public for comments on several large constrictor snakes.

July 2009: U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee about the dangers posed by large constricting snakes to Florida’s ecosystems, unveiling the skin of a 17-foot Burmese python perhaps shed in the Everglades.

October 2009: The U.S. Geological Survey issued a science-based report that identifies nine species of large, constricting snakes as posing a medium or high risk as invasive species in the United States.

March 2010: FWS issued a proposed rule to list nine large constrictor snakes as injurious under the Lacey Act.

January 2011: Open Secrets, a website that discloses federal lobbying expenditures, announced that the U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers spent $120,000 lobbying against the FWS rule. USARK submitted a report saying that banning the trade in these species would cost the industry $100 million–an utterly absurd figure.

March 2011: The White House Office of Management and Budget/Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs received the final rule from FWS. (This White House agency's review process is usually 90 days, yet the rule was held up for 10 months.)

January 2012: Salazar makes the announcement covering only the four species.

What or who got in the way here? There’s only one reasonable explanation: narrow thinking and poor political judgment at OMB.

The folks who run OMB for President Barack Obama are focused on the vulnerability of the administration on the jobs issue, with Obama facing a competitive re-election with high unemployment numbers. So when USARK and its lobbyists made a jobs argument, it struck a nerve at OMB. OMB appeared ready to kill the whole thing, until lawmakers from Florida on both sides of the aisle started demanding action. Ten of the 11 largest newspapers in Florida urged adoption of the FWS rule and demanded that the Obama administration stop dragging its feet and do something about the trade in these invasive, dangerous species.

The administration had to do something; it had to deal with the Burmese python. But in the end, it excluded five species from the import restrictions—two of which, boa constrictors and reticulated pythons, alone make up two-thirds of the trade. As a result, the trade is likely to shift to these species. Salazar said his agency will watch and see how things are going with the other constrictor snakes, and consider banning the other five species down the road, but given the administration’s track record on this issue, that seems highly implausible.

So, in the end, no one is happy—not animal advocates or environmentalists, or even the reptile dealers. The administration shows itself as weak, quick to jettison science for politics, and essentially tone-deaf on this entire issue in the critical battleground state of Florida, whose electorate and opinion leaders clearly want something done about invasive species of snakes.

And for the animal protection community, the burning question is, if OMB cannot stand up to the reptile dealers—who created this problem by peddling high-risk snakes to unqualified individuals and cost the government tens of millions of dollars in invasive species control efforts—how is it going to handle the really tough animal welfare problems the country faces?

The world would be so much better off without HSUS in it.... :(

And this is shocking to who? The humane society will always have more power and support then usark. It doesnt matter how much money you send usark they will never be able to fight hsus. It is what it is. Its sad yes but this ban should not be a surprise to anyone.

The HSUS needs to be taken down completely. I mean look at all there commercials, they can't be taken down for like False advertising or something? I know i'm preaching to the quior.. But If the HSUS didn't exist the world would be a far better place.

i will never understand the need for making a state problem into a federal one.

We can ABSOLUTELY fight HSUS, because money isn't everything...even today.

We prevented them from adding all 9 species. Now we have to take back those 4. Not everyone loves HSUS. My own state of Nebraska despises them, and they were essentially run out of town when they showed up here.

How exactly did we stop them fron taking all 9? Everyone keeps saying we stopped em but how exactly did that happen? And money is everything. If you file a federal lawsuit then hsus will spend the money to tie this in court till usark goes bankrupt. Hsus has so much money and support its crazy. When supporters die some of them will their estates to them i mean come on in todays age money does matter.

Do you REALLY believe that if we had done nothing, all 9 wouldn't have been listed?

Giving up is just that--GIVING UP YOUR RIGHTS. If you don't fight, you WILL lose. If you do fight, you MAY win.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by snake lab

How exactly did we stop them fron taking all 9? Everyone keeps saying we stopped em but how exactly did that happen? And money is everything. If you file a federal lawsuit then hsus will spend the money to tie this in court till usark goes bankrupt. Hsus has so much money and support its crazy. When supporters die some of them will their estates to them i mean come on in todays age money does matter.

---

As said, the reason why they went through with the ban is because Florida threw money around.

this is the way i see it personally. Obama is between a rock and a hard place.. He is on the verge of not getting elected, to his what Florida did will ruin his chances, so he took the step forward to please them

It's wrong IMO, but i can't say much more to this.

If someone wants to chime in and correct me then feel free to do so, This is the way it seems to me, like I said.

Dont get it twisted. Florida has no money. This was an effort spearheaded by florida and hsus and bankrolled by the hsus. Obama has no dog in this fight. He has much bigger fish to fry. He has ruined this country. Banning snakes is not going to effect his campaign one way or the other. And i didnt say quit but if you try and go toe to toe and break out check books against the hsus you got another thing coming. They will just hold it up in court and bankrupt you

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ER12

These large constricting snakes are not suitable as pets; they suffer from capture in the wild and long-distance transport for trade; they can injure and kill people who possess or interact with them; and they can wreak havoc on our natural resources as an invasive species, killing native wildlife, including endangered animals.

---

WTF?? How are they not suitable as pets? They don't bark all night. Don't smell (obviously unless you let them live in filth). Don't "crap" in your neighbor's lawn. They don't tear up your living room when you're gone. Don't need to be walked.

Capture in the wild? HELLO!? Captive bred anyone?

Can injure and kill people? Yup. So can dogs and cats. Let me show you my scars from my kitten.

Wreak havoc? Sure. So do cats.

Shesh...these people!!

A couple of things to note:
1) We can defeat HSUS through education. If more people realized what they truly are, they will stop sending them money and that will be the end of them.
2) The complete document for the rule is on kingsnake.com. I read quite a bit of it and it's pretty clear why the boa constrictor isn't listed. It's because it represents too much money. There was a part in there that hinted of this.

So from the blog posted here, we had this thing almost defeated. Due to the efforts of HSUS, the powers that be ended up doing what they probably felt was a compromise. The way I see it, there are two things we can do that will effect future outcomes more than any and that is to educate enough people on HSUS to hit them in their pocketbooks from lost donations (Facebook is a very powerful tool for this) and we all need to be voting and educate yourself on what a candidate's track record is when it comes to supporting small businesses. As far as undoing the damage that is already done, it's going to be difficult. I'm not sure if we will be successful until the politicians responsible for this are removed from office. Thankfully, we have that opportunity later this year.

HSUS is feeling the sting of lessened donations. That's why they've been screaming about both HumaneWatch and the new Shelter organization. They actually issued a public statement about how THEIR donations were less because of the shelter group that says "Donate to your local shelters". This was one of their mistakes, since it made it more evident to the general public that HSUS doesn't support shelters, only their own pockets.

We do have to keep fighting them, unless you'd like to simply euthanize all your pets right now, roll over and give them your paycheck. HSUS won't be happy until we're all vegan without any pets or animal agriculture.

Give up, or fight? Easy choice for me.

If I had the means, I have an awesome plan to create and air my own commercials exposing the truth about HSUS. Kind of like the smear commercials they do during elections.

Unfortunately, I have no money to pay to have it made, no camera to film it with, and I sure don't have the money to pay for airtime. But I can dream.

Gale

A few suggestions:

Promote HumaneWatch.org

Join general pet forums, and post proper care information about reptiles, and share your positive reptile keeping experiences.

Share your views as a reptile keeper with news agencies, when negative publicity occurs, to provide a balancing viewpoint. Not all of them will publish it, but as we have seen, some WILL, and it makes a big difference.

When you see someone promoting HSUS on a website or anywhere else, share the facts with them--not in a confrontational manner, but kindly, with sympathy for how they were duped. (Maybe they weren't, but most of them probably were, so operate on that assumption). Be prepared to back it up with information they can access.

If you encounter a pet store giving bad advice, an individual not engaging in safe handling practices or caring correctly for their animal, or people in general bad-mouthing reptile keeping, SPEAK UP. Do not remain silent. Do not post about it later and complain--talk to those people when these things occur, and DO something about it. We cannot afford to be 'non-confrontational'. We cannot even always afford to be 'polite' when that means allowing something clearly wrong to happen. I'm not saying that you start getting mad and calling names--on the contrary, conduct yourself as though you represent the reptile community, and do a good job of it. Remain civil, and if your temper rises, take a break, but don't give up.

There are a lot of things we need to clean up in the reptile keeping community, and there's a lot more we can do that won't require a LOT of effort on our part, but it's going to take most of us participating in order to get it done.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

HSUS is feeling the sting of lessened donations. That's why they've been screaming about both HumaneWatch and the new Shelter organization. They actually issued a public statement about how THEIR donations were less because of the shelter group that says "Donate to your local shelters". This was one of their mistakes, since it made it more evident to the general public that HSUS doesn't support shelters, only their own pockets.

We do have to keep fighting them, unless you'd like to simply euthanize all your pets right now, roll over and give them your paycheck. HSUS won't be happy until we're all vegan without any pets or animal agriculture.

Give up, or fight? Easy choice for me.

---

I agree but I think the best way to do that besides educating people on what they really are is to vote out the politicians that are siding with them.

Of course the reason for not banning retics and boas is money. Everyone knows that burms dont represent much money any more, rock pythons never represented any money and anacondas dont represent any money which brings me back to my question on the other thread. How did usark save 4 out of 9? They didnt. The hsus dictated what they would allow and what they wouldnt. I understand the threat of a non native evasive species and things need to be done to protect the glades. But this is a florida problem and will always be a south florida problem only. These snakes cant survive anywhere else. So the easiest solution would be make breeders and and serious herpers apply for permits in florida. Then go and hunt the animals that are loose. Done. But to make this a country wide ban is just rediculous.

We can try, but it's been made abundantly clear that the politician who has the most charisma, and has the most money, is the one who will win.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

We can try, but it's been made abundantly clear that the politician who has the most charisma, and has the most money, is the one who will win.

---

That is exactly it. I do think USARK did save the others for now because if there was no action all of them would likely be banned. They nearly saved all of them before HSUS and the dirty Florida politicians stepped up their efforts.

Florida proposed this and hsus bankrolled it from the beginning. They were never going to go after the big money snakes in the first place. They went after exactly what they set out to go after. The hsus will always be the ones at the fore front cause they have the deepest pockets

Snake lab, have you been paying *any* attention over the last 5 years? It started out as an attempt to ban all non-native wildlife and got reduced over time to 9 species, and now only 4. Yeah, we lost something, and we need to fight to get it back, but we lost a lot less than they were originally trying to take from us. I have to believe that the efforts of USARK lobbying and individuals making phone calls and writing their congresspeople and senators had an impact.

Obviously the fight isn't over for either side, but to claim that defeat is a foregone conclusion borders on the absurd. We can fight HSUS and win; we just have to get the general public to understand what HSUS (and PETA) are really all about.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by olstyn

Snake lab, have you been paying *any* attention over the last 5 years? It started out as an attempt to ban all non-native wildlife and got reduced over time to 9 species, and now only 4. Yeah, we lost something, and we need to fight to get it back, but we lost a lot less than they were originally trying to take from us. I have to believe that the efforts of USARK lobbying and individuals making phone calls and writing their congresspeople and senators had an impact.

Obviously the fight isn't over for either side, but to claim that defeat is a foregone conclusion borders on the absurd. We can fight HSUS and win; we just have to get the general public to understand what HSUS (and PETA) are really all about.

---

5 years? Have you been paying attention? They have been lobying since the 90s to ban animals. Peta and the hsus have the power because they have the money. You are not going to convince their supporters of anything. They are radical to their beliefs. The fact of the matter is the reson that burms, rocks and anacondas were banned is because there is not much money in them therefore it was pretty easy to ban them. The reason retics were not banned is because there is too much money and tax dollars that would be lost. The same goes for boas. Usark just doesnt and will not have enough money to fight a legal fight against hsus or peta. Usark is trying to come up with 150k to file federal lawsuits. Hsus can stroke that check right now without batting an eye. Heres the scenario, usark files the lawsuit, then hsus ties it up in court till they bankrupt usark. Thats what will happen. I am a big supporter of usark and what it stands for dont get me wrong but i am also a realist. The bottom line is money. Whether you like it or not thats what it is. This fight has been brewing for a long time and this is just a small win for hsus. The war isnt over and as long as people dont freak out and sell collections and as an industry we keep plugging away we will over come this. As long as the animals we work with are worth money and the industry stays strong we will be fine. The govt is not going to loose out on tax money.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by snake lab

You are not going to convince their supporters of anything. They are radical to their beliefs.

---

You'll get no argument from me on that point, but their direct supporters are not the people we need to convince. It's the middle ground rest of the populace who either have no pets or just "conventional" pets that we need to convince of our position. Any sane person who sees that none of HSUS's money goes to support local shelters and that PETA kills 97% of the animals they take in will realize very quickly that those two organizations are actively doing harm rather than good.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by snake lab

5 years? Have you been paying attention? They have been lobying since the 90s to ban animals. Peta and the hsus have the power because they have the money. You are not going to convince their supporters of anything. They are radical to their beliefs. The fact of the matter is the reson that burms, rocks and anacondas were banned is because there is not much money in them therefore it was pretty easy to ban them. The reason retics were not banned is because there is too much money and tax dollars that would be lost. The same goes for boas. Usark just doesnt and will not have enough money to fight a legal fight against hsus or peta. Usark is trying to come up with 150k to file federal lawsuits. Hsus can stroke that check right now without batting an eye. Heres the scenario, usark files the lawsuit, then hsus ties it up in court till they bankrupt usark. Thats what will happen. I am a big supporter of usark and what it stands for dont get me wrong but i am also a realist. The bottom line is money. Whether you like it or not thats what it is. This fight has been brewing for a long time and this is just a small win for hsus. The war isnt over and as long as people dont freak out and sell collections and as an industry we keep plugging away we will over come this. As long as the animals we work with are worth money and the industry stays strong we will be fine. The govt is not going to loose out on tax money.

---

Are you a lawyer? What experience do you have regarding federal lawsuits of this kind? How many have you been personally involved in?

You keep stating that we could never win a lawsuit, so please reveal your past experience and what makes you qualified to make such statements (since you keep saying it over and over and over again). What are your qualifications?

We need to fight this battle in two fronts.

The first front is the public. We need to tell all our friends, family, acquaintances, bosses, pet store shoppers and owners, pretty much everyone who will listen that HSUS and PETA are anti-animal ownership. Most people know that PETA supporters are radical, but most people I've talked to about HSUS were clueless. If the entire country were educated regarding the true intent of HSUS and the fact that they rarely help animals, then HSUS would have a whole lot less money. We also need to spread reptile ownership awareness. Tell everyone you meet how cool your reptiles are and how harmless and rewarding they are. Most people have irrational fears of snakes. The more you paint them in a positive light, the better chance of changing people's perceptions you have.

The second front has got to be this lawsuit. If a lawsuit is the only thing that has any hope of reversing this ban, then we need to go for it. It might be a longshot, but sometimes longshots pay off. Telling people it's hopeless and encouraging people NOT to donate to organizations who are fighting for our rights as reptile owners is irresponsible at best and potentially dangerous to our cause.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CapeFearConstrictors

Are you a lawyer? What experience do you have regarding federal lawsuits of this kind? How many have you been personally involved in?

You keep stating that we could never win a lawsuit, so please reveal your past experience and what makes you qualified to make such statements (since you keep saying it over and over and over again). What are your qualifications?

We need to fight this battle in two fronts.

The first front is the public. We need to tell all our friends, family, acquaintances, bosses, pet store shoppers and owners, pretty much everyone who will listen that HSUS and PETA are anti-animal ownership. Most people know that PETA supporters are radical, but most people I've talked to about HSUS were clueless. If the entire country were educated regarding the true intent of HSUS and the fact that they rarely help animals, then HSUS would have a whole lot less money. We also need to spread reptile ownership awareness. Tell everyone you meet how cool your reptiles are and how harmless and rewarding they are. Most people have irrational fears of snakes. The more you paint them in a positive light, the better chance of changing people's perceptions you have.

The second front has got to be this lawsuit. If a lawsuit is the only thing that has any hope of reversing this ban, then we need to go for it. It might be a longshot, but sometimes longshots pay off. Telling people it's hopeless and encouraging people NOT to donate to organizations who are fighting for our rights as reptile owners is irresponsible at best and potentially dangerous to our cause.

---

12 years experience as a fraud investigator dealing with federal lawsuits with the insurance industry. Trust me i have seen plenty of federal lawsuits tied up in litigation over the stupidest of situations and its always the same. Either a settlement is reached over time or the side with the most money ties it up till the lawsuit is withdrawn. You can try strongarm tacticts in some instances but you have to have something the other side wants. In this case the hsus isnt going to budge on their stance i dont think. Look im not saying it couldnt happen but the odds are greatlly against it because of the money and support of those your going up against and a lawsuit in dc federal court against a federally based group is a hard nut to crack.

I do however believe the best chance to do something is by getting as much of the industry together to try and drum up all the support we can. For alot of us this is how we make money, a livelyhood, or supplemental income. Either way its all taxable so we need to come together and prove how much money the federal govt will loose on such bans. One thing many people need to understand is that we arent the onle country dealing with this and the reasons for the push on bans go back along way. And it all stems from mistakes and situations from unethical treatment of animals in private ownership, circuses, zoos, etc. We are basically being judged and we will always be judged. We have to prove that what we do and what we represent is possitive. It sucks but the many are being judged for the few that screw up. I hope we can overcome this and make strives to build the industry better then it ever was.

There is NO way to prevent accidents from happening. We can use education to minimize risks, but accidents will always happen--whether it's snakes, jet skis, bath tubs, or whatever. This isn't about rare accidents, it's about public perception, and we have a LOT of work to do.

Helping to minimize accidents through education is only one part of what we will have to do.

I agree totally. Only problem is we are dealing with an animal many have great fears of. But we do need to educate