So who is up-to-date on California AB112?

It was all the rage awhile ago, but fell off of the radar. Despite the fine job that USARK does, they haven't update on it's progress in awhile.

Let me illustrate and example of how easily it is to have your attention diverted elsewhere with potentially disastrous results.

When AB1122 was introduced, the Reptile NAtion decried it as an attempt to put the kibosh on reptile shows. Oh, it was cleverly concealed, but it was there.

I argued that I had read up on the bill's history and that while the wording was ambiguous, the intent of the bill was to ban the sale of animals on street corners - a very specific problem in some urban areas of northern and southern California.

These animals are often smuggled in from Mexico and are in horrible condition.

NO NO NO screamed some people who had never even read the bill (but had gotten the latest USARK e-mail bulletin), this is a well-crafted and orchestrated attempt to shut down the reptile business.

Posts were put up all over the major forums, inciting people to write their legislators and to put a stop to this malevolent attempt to kill our hobby.

I actually called the office of the sponsor (Ted Lieu) and spoke to an aide. She was astonished that people thought that Mr. Lieu was trying to shut down dog, bird, cat and reptile shows.

Had they received alot of feedback from the vaunted Reptile Nation? No, not really. They had heard from the Democracy of Dogs, the Confederacy of Cats and the Bird Consortium, heck, they even had heard from the Associated of Swap Meets and (I'm not making this up) a contingent of concerned citizens who run the coral frag swaps. Oh - animal rescue groups also voiced their concerns - let's not forget them.

The Reptile Nation - well, a few call here and there, but nothing of note. Do reptiles even have shows? Yes, I said, we have expos. Oh.......

So here we are, and like most bills, this one has gone through many amendments and iterations. Mr. Lieu has refined his bill to reflect the concerns of groups that thought they would be devastated by this bill.

The latest amendment, from the July 7th senate hearing, now contains provisions that exempt:

a. Cat shows
b. Dog shows
c. Bird shows
d. Rescue groups
e. Swap meets were removed from prohibited sale locations


The last paragraph of the amendment now reads:

Amendments Since June 23 Hearing

This bill has been amended since it was heard in this Committee on June 23rd in order to address some of the concerns raised. Specifically, it makes clear that the prohibition on display is to display for sale and makes exceptions for the sale of fish or shellfish off a boat at a pier and for sales of animals at dog, cat, or bird shows. Are these amendments sufficient to address the concerns raised?

I'd say not. Where are reptiles in this? Where is your voice? The might Bird Lobby preserved their rights? How about us?

While I am a supporter of USARK and PIJAC, what does it say about them and more importantly us as a group, that while people were decrying this as an attempt to stuff the sale of every pet in California, very other group of hobbyists had their voices heard but us?

I'll tell you what it says. We're pathetic. Until some of you wake up and pull your heads out of your rear ends we can even more expect nasty, embarrassing surprises like this in the future.

So bravo - while Matt has been thoroughly educated as to the how worthless his opinion is, us folks in California may not be able to go to a herp show in the near future.

So go ahead and hit me with some negative rep or a nasty, witty remark for this post. All I ask is that first you take 30 minutes of your time and do something vaguely constructive - call Mr. Lieu's office (or e-mail him) and let him know that all of the concerns have not been addressed.