British Columbia, Canada Exotics Banned!

[joepythons]

Moved to General Pythons.

Are we talking about snakes... or firearms and healthcare?

If the latter then we'll have to split the thread and toss it in QT.

Bruce

All because we are being jacked of our rights to have them .Why is it the idiots who have NO CLUE always ban things ?

[southb]

We need to toss these liberals out.....including close minded neo cons. It's amazing how many people are scared of snakes but once they get to know them they fall in love with them.

[AaronP]

We need to toss these liberals out.....including close minded neo cons.

We were losing our rights with or without Liberals, so stop spreading that crap and start focusing on working on being proactive in preserving our rights to own our exotics. Write your Congressman/woman, Senators, and Governor. Express, professionally, how you feel about the situation and provide respectable evidence for your stance.

It doesn't matter who's sitting in the chair making it calls, what matters is the people who are influencing those calls.

[patenaud]

This is the really scary part...

Is there a breeding ban?

A breeding ban is in place immediately for all owners of controlled alien species, except for institutions (zoos, educational and research institutions) and in special circumstances.

What are special circumstances?

Under special circumstances, the director of the Fish and Wildlife Branch may, at his/her discretion, authorize a permit allowing an individual to breed their controlled alien species between March 16, 2009 and March 31, 2010. If you are a registered business and had an established breeding program prior to March 16, 2009, you could qualify for a breeding permit. Breeding of controlled alien species under special circumstances will end after March 31, 2010. Commercial zoos and educational and research institutions will be able to continue breeding their controlled alien species under permits.

What documents are required to obtain a breeding permit?

Along with the permit application, the applicant should submit documentation with their application that describes why their case should be considered as a special circumstance. The applicant should also provide information regarding gestation period and the number of progeny expected (management plan) for each controlled alien species.

Can I still sell animals in my possession?

Yes, you can still sell animals in your possession.

What are the fines for offences?

The penalties associated with breeding or releasing for a first time offender are: fines ranging from $2,500 to a maximum of $250,000; or a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or both a fine and a sentence.

[Skiploder]

This has nothing to do with liberal or conservative politics, firearms or health care.

It has everything to do with the reptile hobby being unable to practice self-restraint.

This has been coming down the pipe for awhile and there is little to no constructive talk about what to do.

The hobby has gotten to the point where it can't even recognize that there are serious issues that need to be addressed.

You want to be outraged at someone? Be mad at the idiots who will sell a reticulated python to someone without any regard as to whether or not that person will be able to care for it. Be mad at the idiot that will sell a cobra to another person over the internet with a minimum of questions asked.

Here's a list of what is beign controlled in B.C.:

Order Crocodilia – [such as alligators, crocodiles and caimans]

All species of the Family Boidae that can grow to be more than 3 metres in length when measured from the front of the snout to the tip of tail when the animal is fully extended – [such as some boa constrictors and anacondas]

Family Crotalidae – [such as pit vipers] except Crotalus oreganus [western rattlesnake]

Family Elapidae – [such as death adders, cobras, kraits and mambas]

Family Helodermatidae – [such as gila monsters and beaded lizards]

All species of the Family Pythonidae that can grow to be more than 3 metres in length when measured from the front of the snout to the tip of tail when the animal is fully extended – [such as some pythons]

All species of the Family Varanidae that can grow to be more than 2 metres in length when measured from the front of the snout to the tip of tail – [such as Komodo dragons, crocodile monitors and water monitors]

Family Viperidae [such as true vipers]

Sub-family Aparallactinae – [such as mole vipers]

Sub-family Boiginae – [such as brown tree snake]

Sub-family Hydrophiinae – [such as sea snakes]

Sub-family Philodryas – [such as green racers]

Genus Dispholidus – [such as boomslang snakes]

Genus Thelotornis – [such as twig snakes]

If people cannot grasp that limitations needs to be put on owning large, dangerous or venemous reptiles then we will have severe limits put on all of our exotic pet ownership rights.

We still have a chance, through PIJAC or through other avenues, to show some restraint and put restrictions we can live with on ownership of potentially deadly, potentially invasive or large reptiles.

You can wring your hands and gripe about how we should be free to do whatever we please, but the fact remains - legislation on reptile ownership is coming: beat the government to the punch and address their concerns while preserving our rights.

[Bluebead]

I've been following this for awhile since I live in BC and breed BPs.
This is the actual banned species list:
http://http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/w...s/species.html

This legislation came about b/c a woman was killed by a 'pet' tiger a couple of years ago.
Some form of legislation is obviously needed to keep idiots from killing themselves.
Wait a sec, why dont we just let natural selection take its course???

LOL
Actually this legislation was pushed thru by the SPCA, and has quite a few holes in it. A member on one of my local forums had a nice peice to say about it.
Bottom post, firstpage, by FrogO Oeyes
http://http://www.edmontonreptiles.c...ad.php?t=10942

All this has been going on while gang wars in vancouver keep piling up murder cases, which are usually pretty rare in BC. Its nice to see that our officials have their priorities straight.

[Gorgias]

I just wrote a long post about the bans that are proposed in US and posted it in general herp.... I really have to agree that the fault is not on the side of those banning.... and this applies to all exotic animals. For far too long have we been careless with exotic animals and its coming back to bite us now. It's extends across all aspects of the industry and it is mainly due to people breeding and selling without any ethics. I have not worked with snakes all that long but I've had years with birds and the horror stories are beyond belief.

[Dread]

3m+ Python regius? They exist, and the people who own them are probably keeping very tight-lipped about it for good reason.