Jack Hanna Phone Interview

[BHB]

As promised here is Jack's position on the reptile problem. He had a lot more to say but I edited it down to the most important things. As you'll hear in this clip he is for the responsible ownership of reptiles. I personally really want to thank Jack for helping out with this. He had nothing to gain by standing up for us and I for one am a much larger fan of his after seeing how much he cares about all animals. Thanks, Brian(BHB)

http://snakebytes.tumblr.com/post/29...na-on-reptiles

[Freakie_frog]

It really seemed like he was both sympathetic to the real problem in Fl. and also at the same time concerned that this law will far reach it's stated / intended impact area.

We need to have Jack speaking out about this at his appearances.

Thanks for posting this.

[Denial]

Did you ask him about this?
YouTube - Snakes Alive

I still do not agree with him. Once again he brought up the southern states as "warm states" including south carolina. I could take all of my burmese pythons outside in greenville south carolina right now and release them all. Not one of them would survive and I would expect someone that has one of the largest zoos in america and works with these animals on a daily basis to know that. I like to keep my house in the 60-70 degree range because I like cold weather so my herps are not even safe in my home in south carolina. They all have heat tape or radiant heat panels or heat lights and they also have a heater that heats there room to 80-85 degress at all times. I dont think the agreement papers would work. I just dont see that as something that would work but its a start and anything to get congress off our backs. I liked jack alot when I was growing up but It just blows my mind when people think exotics can survive in south carolina and georgia. We do get pretty hot in the summer but we also freeze in the winter.

[Emmastaff]

I like his idea of signing a contract to have the animal returned to the breeder. It is much like what responsible dog breeders do, have their buyers sign a contract to return the dog if at any time the owner does not want it. If this was a requirement of breeders,I think it would deter irresponsible breeders. They would probably be more likely to screen who they sell to, as they do not want a ton of animals coming back to them in the future.

Jack's idea is taking a concept that is the ideal in the dog world (which itself is plagued with irresponsible breeders, puppy mills, and tons of animals in shelters) and tries to apply it to the reptile world. The only problem I see is that it would have to be a requirement, where as in the dog world it is only "preferred". There are still lots of irresponsible breeders in the dog world, and in the reptile world, if we want to preserve our rights to keep these animals, perhaps it would have to become the reality and not just the ideal. Not really sure how that would be done though? Really irresponsible breeding and selling is a problem in every type of animal, dogs, horses, cats, you see it everywhere.

It is too bad reptiles are singled out as much as they are. But the reality is that the spotlight is on herps, and because of that, we need to do something about it. Perhaps the reason for this is that there is not a universal solution for the disposal of unwanted reptiles. Dogs and cats have animal shelters, horses have rescue organizations, and the unfortunate method of slaughter. There really is no solution out there for unwanted reptiles, so either there needs to be one, or more control over who they go to in the first place, or both. But in my opinion this issue stems from the lack of a place for unwanted reptiles to go. Animal shelters are already stretched to their limits financially, so few are equipped to take these animals. Zoos are already full to capacity too, so another solution needs to be developed.

[Freakie_frog]

I like his idea of signing a contract to have the animal returned to the breeder. It is much like what responsible dog breeders do, have their buyers sign a contract to return the dog if at any time the owner does not want it. If this was a requirement of breeders,I think it would deter irresponsible breeders. They would probably be more likely to screen who they sell to, as they do not want a ton of animals coming back to them in the future.

Jack's idea is taking a concept that is the ideal in the dog world (which itself is plagued with irresponsible breeders, puppy mills, and tons of animals in shelters) and tries to apply it to the reptile world. The only problem I see is that it would have to be a requirement, where as in the dog world it is only "preferred". There are still lots of irresponsible breeders in the dog world, and in the reptile world, if we want to preserve our rights to keep these animals, perhaps it would have to become the reality and not just the ideal. Not really sure how that would be done though? Really irresponsible breeding and selling is a problem in every type of animal, dogs, horses, cats, you see it everywhere.

It is too bad reptiles are singled out as much as they are. But the reality is that the spotlight is on herps, and because of that, we need to do something about it. Perhaps the reason for this is that there is not a universal solution for the disposal of unwanted reptiles. Dogs and cats have animal shelters, horses have rescue organizations, and the unfortunate method of slaughter. There really is no solution out there for unwanted reptiles, so either there needs to be one, or more control over who they go to in the first place.

I don't like that idea one bit..It's not my responsibility as a breeder to make sure your pet gets looked after when you "Don't want it" anymore. IT doesn't work in dogs or cats..why they hell would we think it works differently in reptiles..

There is a solution to unwanted Reptiles..DON"T FREAKING BUY ONE IF YOU CAN"T CARE FOR IT FOR IT'S ENTIRE LIFE SPAN..

Responsible Pet Ownership not Disposable Pet Ownership.

The problem is that it puts all the commitment on the breeder and requires none of the keeper.. You want me to take it back..fine there is a 75% restocking fee based on its current market value.

[twistedtails]

Great interview! Hang on a second, my other line is beeping........

[Emmastaff]

Frog, I totally understand where you are coming from. But I think this is the way the outside world views it. The problem is, people are still going to buy reptiles who shouldn't, and there still needs to be some sort of solution for the unwanted ones. I don't know, but I think that dog breeders who do follow this protocol get very few dogs back. So I am thinking that they screen very carefully who they go to and probably breed an animal of such quality that few people find the need to return them. The dogs from these types of breeders are not the ones ending up in shelters. (By the way, I am speaking from the dog world view because this is the world I am most familiar with since I am involved in dog training, which of course has made me very familiar with the unwanted dog crisis). Jacks idea did remind me of how responsible dog breeders do things. The problem I suppose with taking back reptiles is that they live so long. You could be 80 years old and getting a call to take back some snake you sold 20 years ago.... the longevity of the snake is probably a contributing factor to the problem of what to do with unwanted animals.

[rabernet]

Boy, he talks almost as much as you do, Brian!

I keed, I keed! I enjoy chatting with you when we get a chance to!

[Freakie_frog]

Frog, I totally understand where you are coming from. But I think this is the way the outside world views it. The problem is, people are still going to buy reptiles who shouldn't, and there still needs to be some sort of solution for the unwanted ones. I don't know, but I think that dog breeders who do follow this protocol get very few dogs back. So I am thinking that they screen very carefully who they go to and probably breed an animal of such quality that few people find the need to return them. The dogs from these types of breeders are not the ones ending up in shelters. (By the way, I am speaking from the dog world view because this is the world I am most familiar with since I am involved in dog training, which of course has made me very familiar with the unwanted dog crisis). Jacks idea did remind me of how responsible dog breeders do things. The problem I suppose with taking back reptiles is that they live so long. You could be 80 years old and getting a call to take back some snake you sold 20 years ago.... the longevity of the snake is probably a contributing factor to the problem of what to do with unwanted animals.

And I totally get that but you wouldn't expect to take your car back to the dealership and just expect them to take it, or call the person who sold you your house and ask them to take it back..

I think that if these animals were priced a little higher that might cut down on some of it.. I mean you wouldn't spend 200.00 on a snake and then just turn it loose..

I really would like to see that breeders have to PIT tag the animals and register that with the USFW so if it is let go the USFW can find out who it was sold to and last contact and all that info. Then put a huge fine and min. jail time on it like 250,000.00 and 5 years in jail for releasing it or selling one with out the PIT tag..I mean you get that for copying a DVD..

The breeder has done all he can to make sure the person is responsible and the Government has recourse, and the owner has huge incentive to not release or to think long and hard about buying one..

[BHB]

Did you ask him about this?
YouTube - Snakes Alive

I still do not agree with him. Once again he brought up the southern states as "warm states" including south carolina. I could take all of my burmese pythons outside in greenville south carolina right now and release them all. Not one of them would survive and I would expect someone that has one of the largest zoos in america and works with these animals on a daily basis to know that. I like to keep my house in the 60-70 degree range because I like cold weather so my herps are not even safe in my home in south carolina. They all have heat tape or radiant heat panels or heat lights and they also have a heater that heats there room to 80-85 degress at all times. I dont think the agreement papers would work. I just dont see that as something that would work but its a start and anything to get congress off our backs. I liked jack alot when I was growing up but It just blows my mind when people think exotics can survive in south carolina and georgia. We do get pretty hot in the summer but we also freeze in the winter.

Yeah, that's what this interview was about??? You have to remember that from his point he sees a problem, he's not an expert, he just knows there is a problem. If you think there is no problem then I think you are looking at things from a bias stand point. There are feral Burmese in the Everglades, can they live elsewhere?? Nobody can really say for sure. I hope not for our sake, but the point is that is what has got us here. Jack does not understand our hobby anymore then we understand how to run a zoo. He is concerned for the animals and our hobby. He supports our hobby as stated in this interview. For anyone that has done an interview you'd know that sometimes things sound different then what you want them too. He was asked to go on Fox for an interview about the everglades and they hit him with those questions. He was unprepared and unaware of the ambush style reporting. If you want to keep going back to that instead of appreciating him taking time our of his busy schedule to let us reptile people know that he is behind us, then I guess you can choose to so that. I for one will take any and all support and from a big name like Jack Hanna it can only help our fight. Thanks, Brian(BHB)