Feel free to cut and paste and use my letter, it has a more economic data and stats than any of the others I have seen, but for damn sure send in something. If you dont send it in the next couple of days it wont matter:


Please oppose HR669,

Should this bill be made law it would have serious negative economic consequences. This poorly written and misguided legislation would destroy one of the few sectors of our economy that is currently growing, despite the recent economic crisis.

This Bill would decimate the pet industry, an industry that is estimated by the APPA to be 45.4Billion dollars in 2009. This total makes the pet industry the 7th largest retail segment on the US economy. The mere though that a bill, penned by a special interest group, would seek to destroy one of the few areas of growth in our already anemic economy as well as arbitrarily take away the rights of all Americans to keep their pets is quite disturbing. If this becomes law it would put tens of thousands out of work, included myself. There are countless thousands of pet stores, wholesalers, manufacturers, Vets and breeders who depend on this industry to support their families, HR669 would destroy all of this.

There is also the fundamental issue of fairness and this bill would make criminals about of roughly half of the US population. The numbers of pets already in people’s homes that would be outlawed should this legislation pass is staggering. The numbers below represent the best estimates of how many of each group to be banned are currently kept as pets. These numbers were provided by the APPA (American Pet Products Association)

Reptiles 13.4 Million
Small Animals 24.3 Million
Birds 16 Million
Saltwater Fish 9.6 Million
Freshwater Fish 142 Million

This totals 205.3 Million pets to be made illegal. Does anyone in Congress really want to explain to the public why they are stripping away their rights to keep harmless pets?

Lastly this Bill would have no beneficial effects. The three species it would leave as legal to own are ironically among the worst invasive species known. Goldfish are highly invasive and can be found all over the country. Domestic cats, also still permitted under this bill are probably thew worst invasive species in the world, one that has caused countless extinctions of small animals the world over. The fact that these species are permitted under this bill but all others are not illustrates the ignorance of the issue the authors of this bill have. All of the species to be banned have been kept legally as pets for decades with little to no problems.

This Bill is poorly written, poorly researched and would represent a serious miscarriage of justice should it be made law.



Thank you for your consideration on this issue.