USARK: LA Herp Hearing & Changes to the Animal Welfare Act

[Homebody]

ALERT: Louisiana Herp Regulation Hearing Update from September 5, 2024: The amendments (changes from the previous version) were presented at today’s Commission Meeting. Only two herpetoculturists spoke regarding the rules: a Louisiana turtle breeder and Phil Goss of USARK. The Commissioners accepted the amendments. This opens a new public comment period until October 22. The Commissioners will receive the public comments at a future meeting. LDWF will hold a meeting/workshop to discuss the changes on the date and location below. We will post the changes as soon as we receive the final copy (which will not be posted in the State Register until September 20, but we will get the document posted ASAP). Tuesday, October 22, 2024 LDWF Headquarters 2000 Quail Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70808 Updates will be posted at https://usark.org/24_la/. ALERT: Bill to Add Herps to the Animal Welfare Act On September 12, Representative Betty McCollum introduced HR9571, which will "amend the Animal Welfare Act to include cold-blooded species as animals, and for other purposes." This will add reptiles and amphibians "as animals" under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), meaning the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must develop rules and regulate herps. Basically, the USDA would inspect facilities with herps, and businesses would need to comply with new USDA regulations or lose their licenses. The USDA recently began inspecting and licensing aviculturists (bird breeders). The bill has been assigned to the House Agriculture Committee. We will post more information when available at https://usark.org/24us1/. Light Bulb Ban Read more information with contact details at https://usark.org/24doe/. In 2022, the Department of Energy (“Department”) passed a regulation that banned certain incandescent light bulbs. Basically, light bulbs are deemed inefficient if they do not emit a certain amount of lumens per watt. This was meant to transition from less efficient bulbs to more efficient lighting, like LED bulbs. Reptile lighting is a specialty item and is not used for general-purpose lighting in homes and businesses. However, certain bulbs were reviewed solely on how many lumens they produced per watt. Herp keepers know that halogen and basking bulbs are not used in household lamps for general lighting. Read the rest at https://usark.org/24doe/. ARTICLE: "Light bulb ban threatens reptile, amphibian welfare" by the Veterinary Infomation Network snippet: "The ban should be a concern of animal caretakers for many species," said Latney, a senior veterinarian at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center who also is chair of the Association for Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV). "This is particularly true for captive reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammal species that have limited exposure to natural, unfiltered sunlight." Read the full article at https://news.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=210&Id=12254509&f5=1. Grants for Teachers: Pets in the Classroom The Pets in the Classroom grant program supports teachers in enhancing students' educational and personal development through interaction with pets in their classrooms. Pets in the Classroom is now accepting applications for the 2024-25 school year. Begin the Application Process Here: https://petsintheclassroom.org/about-our-grants/ "We are excited to share our Pets in the Classroom program with you! Pets in the Classroom was founded to enhance students' educational and personal development through interaction with pets in their classrooms. Our no-hassle grant program supports Pre-K through 9th-grade teachers in enhancing students' educational and personal development through interaction with pets in their classrooms. If you meet the qualifications, you will receive a grant. And, not only will we help you purchase your classroom pet and set up its classroom habitat, but we will help you continue caring for it through its lifetime!" - Pets in the Classroom Find A Vet Need a good herp veterinarian? The Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV) can help. ARAV offers a free Find-A-Vet service at http://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661. Get shirts and more! USARK Online Swag Shop Our shop is open at https://usark.org/shop/(or simply click the "Shop" link in the menu on our website). We currently have two shirts and three hats available for sale.

[Malum Argenteum]

"HR9571, which will "amend the Animal Welfare Act to include cold-blooded species as animals, and for other purposes." This will add reptiles and amphibians "as animals" under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), meaning the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must develop rules and regulate herps. Basically, the USDA would inspect facilities with herps, and businesses would need to comply with new USDA regulations or lose their licenses."

The direct extrapolation to "the USDA would inspect facilities with herps" is a bit disingenuous (it is clearly scaremongering, since this is a hot button issue for herp keepers generally). There's currently no public text of HR9571 available right now, so any claim about what it might entail is mere speculation. But, there's a de minimis clause for bird breeders (200 birds <250g; 8 birds >250g, annually), which is an explicit carve out for "hobby breeders". A similar carve out for hobby herp breeders would likely be made (once it becomes known exactly how many inspections USDA would have to do, and how many times that number is than the number they could possibly do), and may well be a higher limit than for birds (given how many herp breeders there are, and how many inspections that would entail).

There's also a <$500 annual sales exemption under the current regulations (which is pretty low, IMO, but that's what it is). Interestingly, this is approximately the amount above which income taxes must be paid on annual sales (which is $600), which I'd wager a very small percent of herp breeders pay. Two things follow from this observation: (1) those herp breeders who are already engaging in tax fraud likely won't be troubled by dodging USDA regulations (compare: the many, many invert breeders that are flouting USDA regulations in openly selling illegal arthropods). And (2), if more herp breeders were above board (i.e. licensed and filing business taxes), that data might be useful in showing that this AMA amendment would be more trouble than it is worth.

On the flip side, having regulations and enforcing them would serve to bring herp breeding into mainstream attention, and help to legitimate the hobby.