Watch the HR669 Hearing LIVE from your PC!

[Jerhart]

It's over? So what happened? What now....?

[grammie]

how do you guys feel how it went

I think I need to get a couple more snakes and geckos so they can get grandfathered in.

[littleindiangirl]

wasnt they going to vote on this

That was just a hearing.

Overall, I feel for the biological aspects of truly invasive species. It was quite upsetting to keep hearing Docter W/e, that if it has a small chance at being invasive, it should be banned, and NO ONE had a problem with a guilty until proven innocent besides the woman from the Virgin Islands.

But it was made clear that it is too broad of a stroke, (like the fish guy was saying), even Am. Samoa was all saying that it isn't suited properly as written, and it can have a largly negative impact on economics.

I think they will touch closely on state to state regulations. Like Samoa was saying, why have a permit in place on a Federal level for an animal that wont survive in Wisconsin, but IS a problem in Florida?

Very well spoken by everyone.

[Laooda]

Anymore updates? All I know is that people are talking (arguing)....

...does it sound like the bill will pass....or is it that well balanced between the parties who oppose the bill vs those who support it?

If I understood correctly, they are going to review all notes and testimonies... they are welcoming advice and suggestions from both sides... can't remember the time frame on the deliberation.

Someone confirm: was it mentioned that this is only geared towards non-native INVASIVE animals? And what's the definition of that?

[gp_dragsandballs]

So they had a guy from Samoa talk, a woman from virgin islands and the person from Guam proposed it.

Then they compared buying a python was like getting a tiger.

The fish guy was cut off and he was one of the only ones who had any sense.

And they said that the species would be assessed by grad students for $150 dollars each.

Real smart people deciding the future of our pets.

[llovelace]

Well, what happens now?

[bkhorseman]

That was just a hearing.

Overall, I feel for the biological aspects of truly invasive species. It was quite upsetting to keep hearing Docter W/e, that if it has a small chance at being invasive, it should be banned, and NO ONE had a problem with a guilty until proven innocent besides the woman from the Virgin Islands.

But it was made clear that it is too broad of a stroke, (like the fish guy was saying), even Am. Samoa was all saying that it isn't suited properly as written, and it can have a largly negative impact on economics.

I think they will touch closely on state to state regulations. Like Samoa was saying, why have a permit in place on a Federal level for an animal that wont survive in Wisconsin, but IS a problem in Florida?

Very well spoken by everyone.

I agree

[RoyalGuardian]

I so totally wanted to punch dude that said that he didn't have the correct statistic for the dollar value of the pet industry and that most of it was dog and cat. Good job you simple minded moron. We are trying to learn about the money value of the non native species trade and all you can come up with is " I haven't looked.. all I can vouch for is the dog and cat food industry." THATS TOTALLY BESIDES THE POINT!!!!!! These people don't care one lick about anything about the actual issue if they won't even do a small amount of research on both sides.. I AM SO MAD!!!! I can't believe those idiots would go straight from Pythons to tigers and big cats!!!! OMG.. Yes I can see where these old people would feel that there is a problem but most of the species he mentioned was NOT a part of the pet industry at all! Zebra mussels and apple snails were NEVER pets to begin with. I want to beat these idiots over the head with a blunt object screaming MY BALL PYTHONS ARE NOT DANGEROUS!!!!!

[Denial]

I just finished watching it and I do believe it will pass but they will rewrite the entire thing. Fisher from fish and wildlife said it would only cover 10%percent of animals in the pet trade but guess what WE are that 10 percent. The guy from pijac and the fish guy did very well but they had 6 people and 4 were for this bill I think they needed people there that support our industry that make money on our industry like the big breeders, cage builders, suppliers to give there imput. I do think reptiles invasive species should be regulated but with a permit system. Get your snake microchipped so if they do catch one and scan it then your in trouble not the millions of other responsible exotic owners.

And to answer that indian guys question yes it is legal for me to own a tiger, lion, or python in my hometown!

[ScottyBoa]

I got the email from USARK saying they think the sub-committee will pass it and it'll get killed in the full committee. If it does pass today do not despair, it still has many hurdles it'll have to get over and we're going to make sure they are too high.