anti (python, boa, etc) policy about to be passed in NYC

[Curly McCozy]

Hey everyone, I just got a letter from fauna, I'm sure many of you got the same letter. It says that there is a bill sitting on the governer of New York City's desk waiting to be signed into law that will prohibit reptile enthusiasts from breeding snakes. If a permit is acquired it will only allow you to OWN them. not breed them. Those are the basics that I got from the letter. If the bill passes it is likely to be copied by other states.

[pinhed]

That sucks. But its not like they can really enforce it. And if they do pass and enforce as best they can that will be big problem for the snakes in the wild. =(

[gozetec02]

I think they are targeting the wrong group. What about those folks who breed viscious dogs like pit bulls. Those are much more dangerous than any python. They are basing their decision on unstable grounds. I think they are just scared of snakes and dont understand them.

[LLAP101202]

I agree it is most likely the FRAIDY CAT factor however keep in mind...not all herp owners are as well informed and caring as the people here at Alex Hue.....I live in RI and I am trying to get funding to open an Iguana rescue and hopefully in time include the big snakes. People LOVE reptiles when they are cute and SMALL but then once they get 4-6+ feet long and smack you with whip of a tail or bite you becuse you are inexperienced at feeding or "just becuse it happens" MOST people dont find them so cute anymore and then turn them lose or mistreat them or hurt them.....I think this is more what they are trying to prevent but they would be going about it the wrong way. For the reptiles sake I think more people should research and be informed BEFORE making the decission to parent reptiles...they need peolpe just as special as they are or it wont be good for any and all concerned.

[pinhed]

I'm gonna have to disagree with you on the pit bull thing. Some of the nicest dogs i have come into contact with were pit bulls. It mostly depends on the owner and has also to do with its parents being used for fighting and bread for fighting. I think some of the worst dogs are Akida, german sheperds.

But i do agree with you that they are scared of snakes and dont understand them so they are trying to pass stupid laws like no breeding and crap like that. i can understand a law requiring a liscence to keep large snakes like retics ofr burms cause most people buy mthem when they are small and cute and dump them when they hit 8 ft cause no one will buy or take them off their hands.

[Darren]

:?: I was wondering why they are trying to pass the law in New York? What is the original gripe in the first place?

[RTBoas]

Thank you for sending your thoughts and concerns to Governor Pataki. Your email has been received and will be forwarded to the appropriate staff for review.

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A02684&sh=t


I wrote him about the ban on the Boids. Of course there are others in the ban such as the following

1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature finds that keeping
2 exotic animals as pets poses a serious threat to the health and safety
3 of New York state residents. Wild animals, including but not limited to,
4 monkeys, tigers and venomous snakes, are readily available for purchase
5 throughout New York state.
6 Across the country, children have been mauled by tigers, asphyxiated
7 by snakes, and bitten by monkeys. Wild animals kept as pets can transmit
8 serious diseases to people, including Herpes B, Salmonella and Ebola
9 virus.


As to Boids which I own a few of as of right now like a friend said to me there has not been any asphyxiated by snakes of the smaller Boids such as ball pythons, children's pythons, and others, even including common boa constrictors for which there has never been a recorded human fatality.

The person who wrote this bill has no education in Reptiles Period, this totally evident. I could understand banning a snake greater then 15 feet or something like that but all Boids?

As for VENOMOUS snakes, I can't see why anyone would really want to own one, but it's there choice.

If I had more time I could write a book or even amend the state Legislatives shortcoming.

This is still a free country and we all need to go to bat on topics like this, I encourage you all the write Governor George E. Pataki.

Even if you’re not in NYC, New York

Email him here


http://161.11.3.75/

[Alias47]

I have to agree with pinhed. Pit Bulls are one of the nicest and easily manageable breeds available. I don't remember where I read this, but the AKA(or maybe it was the AKC) has a rating system for the compatability and friendliness of dogs and the Pit Bull was above 90th percentile among all dog breeds. It even ranked higher than the Golden Retriever, I believe. I owned one. The city of Muskegon, Michigan confiscated it and put it to sleep. Because they had enacted HUGE laws about the keeping of the dogs (the restrictions were ridiculous). The local beat cop who came to get him knew my dog. Some guy 3 blocks away had been raising fighting dogs and had received 1000's of dollars in tickets. So he called daily to complain about my dog. The police came once and told my roommate about the laws with no interference or citations. They came back a full month later, because this other guy wouldn't stop calling. The policeman who came over said he had been putting it off, this was his beat and he had actually stopped by and PETTED my dog before because it was so friendly. Mind you we had a 6' cyclone fence around the entire yard. When he came my dog was playing with my 1 year old daughter in the front yard. (YES I was right there, but you have to understand, this dog was SO careful, he wouldn't even BUMP her and knock her over). The officer even took the dog to the pound in his vehicle, instead of waiting for animal control. When I went to animal control, they had been keeping my dog in their offices because he was SO friendly. They told me I had two weeks to find a place out of the city limits to keep my dog or comply with the EXPENSIVE rules. Needless to say, I couldn't find anyone to take him, couldn't afford the insurance and special enclosure, and came home a 5:15 one evening to a message that said if I didn't get him out by 5:00 pm they were going to euthanize him the following morning. SAD SAD all because people perceive them to be a threat. Looks like they are trying to do the same with large boids in NYC.

[Alias47]

Oh, yeah. The whole time my roommate had a Rot that was THREE times the size of my 50 lb pit. In the same enclosure. And NOTHING was done to it. Although about a year later a Muskegon cop shot it 5 times for roaming at large. It was actually playing with some local kids at the park behind our house after escaping the fence. He deemed it was a dangerous breed and shot it once, wounding it. Then got into his car and chased it three blocks finally putting the animal down after shooting it a total of five times. My roommate got a call from the police department saying "Sorry, an officer had to shoot your dog, it is dead in the yard at XXX address, will you please come and get the carcass or you will be fined."

Perception is the key.

[Dr Alan]

Then got into his car and chased it three blocks finally putting the animal down after shooting it a total of five times.

Sounds to me like Clint Eastwood was looking for an excuse to shoot his gun. There are parts of the country where cops are under some constraints not to do this sort of thing, but Michigan isn't one of 'em. The sad part is that very few law enforcement officers have any clue how to humanely dispatch an animal with a firearm, even when it is justified.

Many years ago when I was in practice in SW Michigan I was called to the scene of a cattle-truck that had jackknifed on I-80 near Elkhart. Many steers were down, and many other were walking (and running) wounded. The Indiana State Police and local county mounties were attempting to euthanize the cattle by gunshot. They were using 38 revolvers (that will give you some clue as to how long ago this was) and they made a horrible mess of it. You can kill a cow with a .22 if you know where to shoot it, but body and side-head shots don't do anything except torture them and make them mad. I had to go play cowboy and clean up the mess (I think they called us when they started to run out of ammo). It was disgusting.

Another time a local officer called and told us he was bringing in a large dog that he had shot and killed for disposal (we had a crematorium on the premises). He got to the animal hospital and I went back with him while he popped the trunk. A very large, very alive dog jumped out and ran away, never to be seen again. I told the cop "Nice shooting, Tex".

[Alias47]

I think that officers should be trained to deal with these things. My wife hit a deer once and she (the deer, not my wife) got hung up in a fence. The responding officer shot the deer multiple times in the middle of it's side with a 9mm. Once again this is in Muskegon, Michigan (although I believe it was a County Deputy this time). Poor deer probably lived for well over an hour (Tow truck had hooked up and my wife was leaving and it was STILL alive). Being a deer hunter myself, the cop could have aimed at a kill zone instead of the guts (if he knew better), but he also could have used his buck shot loaded 12 gauge instead of his pea shooter 9mm.

[sircat]

I wrote a very logical headstrong email to Gov. Pataki...at least with the monitors they mentioned species...banning all boids just shows how ignorant ppl who make decisions are...it makes me so mad...definitely something worth a lot of complaints...oh yeah...a rosy boa's gonna eat a kid...I'm usually quite a calm person but this made my blood boil

[Dr Alan]

I wrote a very logical headstrong email to Gov. Pataki GFL. (Good fu*king luck.)

[sircat]

yeah...I usually don't bother b/c some things are like talking to air...but even if no one reads it, I had to write something