Q. What is the dumbest petition/movement you have seen against husbandry?

[xAnthemia]

As this does not explicitly relate to current or upcoming legislation, I am making this post here. The question is simple and should be fun: what is the dumbest petition or movement you have seen regarding husbandry?


Of course, I’ll too answer the question. Without a doubt, the dumbest petition I’ve ever seen (at least since this year) in my own country was the petition tied to the August 23^rd incident in England. On August 23^rd, an 18ft python escaped an enclosure and began to slither around Southampton. Eventually, it attempted to enter the petitioner’s bedroom through the window from the outside, scaring the petitioner. After calling the police, the police refused to intervene, stating that it wasn’t their job (this is correct, it is the animal rescue’s job here, not the police’s job).

Now, any average person would respond by discussing with the snake’s owner why this occurred and what can be done to prevent this. Instead, the following demands were issued to the government via change.org of all things:

1. Any owner of a large snake (a snake of at least 3ft in size), “poisonous snake,” or any other reptile of a similar threat must be registered with the local council, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and the police. Yes, all three of them.

2. Said animals must be legally recognized as “potentially dangerous to humans and other animals.” I somewhat agree with this one, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t in the law, not because the government disagrees, but because it is stating the obvious. Yes, a “poisonous” snake would likely be harmful; no surprises there. Also, just a reminder now that even ball pythons meet the criteria mentioned in statement one.

3. The owners of animals mentioned in statement one must be physically and psychologically proven to contain such an animal within the boundaries of their abode. They must have expertise in the animal in question (so there goes the concept of beginner pets) and must be fully aware of the consequences of escapes. Owners with previous incidents of escapes, including escaped cats and dogs, are banned from owning such animals.

4. Extremely large animals (no size specified, but it includes the 18ft snake) are to bebanned from the UK unless in a zoo.

5. The following houses can not contain any animal that meets the criteria of statement one: flats, terraced houses, semi-detached houses, “basically anywhere there are neighbours behind the wall.”

6. “Neighbours with babies and children and fragile adults like elderly or invalids (also withanimals, e.g., farmers) should have the right to OBJECT and disallow those in a 50-yard radius of keeping snakes.” In other words, the people of the majority become the government against a minority husbandry community. This is arguably the most draconian statement in this long list of general ignorance.

7. Escaped animals that meet the criteria of statement one must be a police matter.

8. Escaped species must be confiscated immediately.

9. Owners must report an escaped reptile immediately.

10. There should be a minimal fine of £1000 and a maximum fine of £10,000 for allowing or not preventing a large reptile from escaping.

11. By law, houses that house large reptiles must have certain equipment, including a camera system that alerts owners of escapes, unbreakable and unremovable locks, and an“emergency button.” I should note that there is no description of what this button should do — they should just have one, I guess.

12. By law, “reptiles must be constantly locked.”

13. All reptiles must be chipped, and their exact position must always be transferred to their owner’s devices via GPS.

14. “Somepeople must be banned from owning animals by a court ruling.” Not sure why this statement is included — this already exists for anyone in the UK who live feeds, let alone lets their pet escape.

What makes this petition scary to me is the aftermath. The story of an 18ft python escaping was unique in the UK. Microsoft recommended articles discussing the story, including links to the petition, to all UK-based for a few days following the incident. The result was that this random, stupid petition jumped to just under one thousand signatures in a few days before it was eventually removed from Microsoft’s recommendations, as all old news is. This is a reminder to all owners that, in the modern internet age, a single mistake can lead to things like this, and if the story got a bit more coverage, it could’ve ended a lot worse for us here in the UK trying to do husbandry (change.org is a joke, but our MPs are jokes and they often use it for some reason).

So, with that all discussed, I leave the opening question to you all. And no, this petition was not a troll, you can read it in all of its glory here: https://www.change.org/p/ban-large-pet-snakes-in-uk