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Nationwide Call Day on Monday-- HR2811

I think if they don't run out of paper, we haven't done our jobs! ;P

But I'll bet they have fancy shmancy memory dealies that will start firing off the faxes they missed once they put new paper in. Why not, we're buying!

It would be awesome if they start going to work and saying to each other, "Another reptile bill? No, I'm sorry those people are just crazy. I can't join you in that effort."
 
"...It would be awesome if they start going to work and saying to each other, "Another reptile bill? No, I'm sorry those people are just crazy. I can't join you in that effort."

THAT would make my day, no...my year!!!
 
Just got another email from US ARK - still time to call!

" Not Enough Calls- Keep Calling Tomorrow!

We need many more calls for the CALL CAMPAIGN OPPOSING HR2811 organized by USARK. We saw many email lists forwarding our phone and fax campaign all around the Reptile Nation. Kingsnake.com, ReptileRadio and many others helped spread the word, but today's turn out was less than stellar. Our work is not done. Please continue to call all day tomorrow. A link to the remainder of the list of House Judiciary Committee Members is below. Call everyone. If you have not contacted the key members indicated by USARK please do that first. Most members are not very aware of HR2811.
We have been in communication with the offices of Congressman Kendrick Meek and Congressman Tom Rooney since early this morning. They want to amend HR2811. Originally they agreed to the USARK proposal on an amendment. It has since become unclear the direction this proposed amendment might take. Tomorrow there will be a subcommittee mark up. There will be no amendment allowed tomorrow, but we will find out what the proposal for amendment will be. If it is out of line with what we have proposed we will fight it. It is possible that an amendment will be introduced on Wednesday during the full House Judiciary Committee mark up.
Make your phone calls... send your faxes. If you want to be successful we will have to do much better than today. We are potentially facing the end of the python trade. What are you personally prepared to do to stop that from happening? The people that do nothing will have themselves to blame if this bill goes south. Don't sit around and procrastinate and later wish you had done your part. Tomorrow is your last chance to have an impact on an amendment. Make your phone calls... send your faxes!!!
BEWARE OF RUMORS... do not contribute to the rumor mill. USARK will make a statement tomorrow updating the situation!"
 
Wow that's disappointing. I took the constant busy signals while faxing as a sign that they were really getting hammered.
Did you guys have any trouble getting through on the phone?
I'll call tomorrow.
 
I suppose we could get memberships to all the news station's websites and drop off well composed comments on their articles, to raise a little awareness. All of the irresponsible journalists and irresponsible media has been interlinking the tradgedy of the irresponsible pet owner with the feral population, some even going so far as to say. CBS says "a family pet python got loose and killed a toddler and now pythons are taking over the Fla. Everglades, as if one has something to do with the other, but the video is pretty well balanced. Another story reports that Twelve people have been killed by pet pythons since 1980, according to The Humane Society of the United States; four of those cases have occurred in the last three years. A 2-year-old girl was killed just a few weeks ago when a pet python strangled her in bed.
. Is that a domestic statistic, or a global statistic?

Rather than continue to ask herp people to call, what about getting outside of our own demographic, and getting people who don't have a pet with scales-- to call? I realize it is thinking outside of my personal comfort zone, since the national media can raise so much fear and hatred against persons whom have a particuliar kind of pet, then it's time to get pro-active outside of the herp zone. So print out some flyers, send email to everyone in your address book, use your MySpace, rock the vote!
 
davesfiles said:
Twelve people have been killed by pet pythons since 1980, according to The Humane Society of the United States; four of those cases have occurred in the last three years. A 2-year-old girl was killed just a few weeks ago when a pet python strangled her in bed.
[/URL]. Is that a domestic statistic, or a global statistic?
Click to expand...

And the fact that HSUS is at all involved in that is testimony to where these bills originate and WHY we need to fight them. The HSUS LIVES to see the reptile trade and reptile keeping eliminated.

Rather than continue to ask herp people to call, what about getting outside of our own demographic, and getting people who don't have a pet with scales-- to call? I realize it is thinking outside of my personal comfort zone, since the national media can raise so much fear and hatred against persons whom have a particuliar kind of pet, then it's time to get pro-active outside of the herp zone. So print out some flyers, send email to everyone in your address book, use your MySpace, rock the vote!
Click to expand...

Yeah... good point! I have had a very hard time getting non-reptile people to care.

This is the thread I started on my fish forums:
http://www.aquaria.info/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=75258

The lack of fear or consideration was amazing to me... especially from people who 1) dabble in reptiles but aren't serious hobbyists, and 2) were gun owners (the attacks on gun ownership in this nation are similar to current attacks on reptile keeping, IMHO)
 
I just called all of the sponsors and co-sponsors. I would have called the entire list, but sadly I must now actually go to work, to earn money to support my "habit" that the anti's want so badly to end. ;)
 
Because of my work hours, I can't call, but I emailed. I pointed out that banning all pythons is akin to banning all terriers because of pit bull terriers. There are many species that are small, harmless and worth millions of dollars to breeders and hobbyists. The large species are the ones that uneducated pet owners buy and throw away because of their size and housing requirements.

I hope it helps. Everything makes a difference.
 
Hypancistrus said:
And the fact that HSUS is at all involved in that is testimony to where these bills originate and WHY we need to fight them. The HSUS LIVES to see the reptile trade and reptile keeping eliminated.
Yeah... good point! I have had a very hard time getting non-reptile people to care.
The trick is to put it into language that the non-herpers will tune in to. If I start raising my voice and saying the HSUS is bad, I might as well shoot myself in the foot. Many people love the HSUS. This is not a HSUS issue though it is difficult to stay focused when something is making me angry. Try not to lose focus. There will be time later to provide further education about HSUS. For right now, the issue is banning all pythons, (even the ones that only get 3 feet long), and destroying the livelihoods of many individuals, ending many small businesses at a time when our economy is shaky, and punishing everybody within a demographic. The persons within that demographic are being sterotyped because of the media's intertwineing of a truly unfortunate tragic recent event with nusiance feral animals. In essence exploitation of a deceased little girl whose parents were under-educated around properly housing and feeding a pet,
in order to make the citizens of the USA prejudice against anyone with a pet or business related to pythons.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hypancistrus said:
The lack of fear or consideration was amazing to me... especially from people who 1) dabble in reptiles but aren't serious hobbyists, and 2) were gun owners (the attacks on gun ownership in this nation are similar to current attacks on reptile keeping, IMHO)
Click to expand...

That was my experience with the Desert Tortoise owners group. No foresight at all that we, reptile owners, need to stand united. They were more into comparing the "devastation" of the Burmese pythons in the Everglades to ravens introduced into the desert where they are not native- obviously we need to eliminate all pythons from the US immediately. Whatever.
 
Called work, I'm running late today, got a case of the scales...
Re-hashed and edited a lot of the info I've found across the python ban forums on all the different sites. So it sounds like it's coming from me, not from someone else. Got out 1514 emails just now, to friends and business associates (mostly outside the reptile communities) from coast to coast.


DANGER: Python Ban Goes to Committee

Pythons aren't your thing? It's Pythons first. They will be after your Dogs and Cats too eventually if they find success banning Pythons. Count on it. This IS YOUR fight too!

HR2811 (House version of S373) Sponsored by Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-FL), will go to Mark-up (amendment) in a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday the 28th, and then to the full committee on Wednesday the 29th. This bill has been called the Python BAN. If passed as written, it will BAN the IMPORT, EXPORT and INTERSTATE TRANSPORT of the entire genus python. Once it passes Mark-up it will go to a vote on the floor of the full House of Representatives. This is an immediate threat to the entire Pet Community. If ALL Pet Lovers do not take action immediately today, there will be a foundation laid upon which we could lose all pets. There are hundreds of thousands of feral cats and dogs across America, each consuming many times its own weight in native wildlife. And every year, there are far more unfortunate occurrences of someone getting mauled to death by a dog then from pythons.

The HSUS and Sierra Club have worked hard and spent a lot of money to make sure the national media and your congressmen confuse a tragic event involving the recent preventable death of a little girl with the separate issue of feral pythons in south Florida. If the little girl's parents had been educated that their pet python needed more than a tiny meal every 3 weeks for nourishment, or that putting a lightweight twin mattress on top of a small aquarium was not sufficient to keep the snake in it's designated tiny enclosure, then her parents would not be sad now. Is this the python's fault? In fact, of the 30 python species, it is only a very few that reach massive proportions. Children's Pythons only reach a maximum length of 3 feet, and are so named because a child can pick one up a wild one without getting bitten. Ball Pythons are recommended by the National Zoo as an 'excellent first-time snake pet' for children.

If passed as written this bill will destroy thousands of small businesses across America. There is not a shred of scientific evidence to support banning all of the different species in the genus python. Please amend the bill to address only the IMPORT of the Burmese Python. This is not the time to panic or get angry. It is time for calm deliberate action. Please spread the word to every forum and social networking site you frequent. Please do not ignore this thereby risking the loss of another freedom. No one else can do this for you. We hold the pursuit of personal happiness in our own hands. We need to engage in a massive phone and fax campaign on Tuesday the 28th. Please get everyone you know to call.

Phone & Fax Campaign: Monday July 27 (call & fax ALL Congressman at ALL numbers)

Congressman Kendrick Meek (D-FL),

Washington DC: phone 202-225-4506;
fax 202-226-0777

Miami: phone 305-690-5905;
fax 305-690-5951

Congressman Tom Rooney (R-FL)

Washington DC: phone 202-225-5792;
fax 202-225-3132

Punta Gorda: phone 941-575-9101;
fax 941-575-9103

Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL)

Washington DC: phone 202-225-3001;
fax 202-225-5974

Boca Raton: phone 561-988-6302;
fax 561-988-6423

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)

Washington DC: phone 202-225-7931;
fax 202-226-2052

Pembroke Pines: phone 954-437-3936;
fax 954-437-4776
Thank you for your consideration.
 
Let me give a thanks....

to all of you outside Florida who went to bat for us. (I think this crusade has blossomed but it began here) Like Nanci I posted the problem on other forums and received nada. Kind of cheesed my cracker. Some of the same forums were giving the 3rd degree on HR69. But since I guess this didn't apply to them.....
 
Win! (but not over)

from email:


House Judiciary Committee Staff and bill Sponsors agrees with USARK position to limit the scope of HR2811 with a proposal for an amendment. All but two pythons will be completely exempted from the bill. The exception will be the IMPORT of the Burmese Python and the African Rock Python. Further, Committee staff has committed to work with USARK over the August legislative break to craft language to allow the commercial trade in captive bred Burmese Pythons and African Rock Pythons to continue. This is a huge victory for USARK and the Reptile Nation!

For the last two days, while the Reptile nation was making their calls, USARK was involved in intense discussions with the Sponsors of HR2811 and House Judiciary Committee Staff, not to destroy the Reptile Industry with their bill. Yesterday morning we suggested to Congressman Kendrick Meek and Congressman Tom Rooney that the bill be amended to address ONLY the IMPORT of the Burmese Python and exempt all the other pythons from this legislation. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) caught wind of what we were doing and began to apply pressure to leave the bill "as is", banning all pythons.

Today we coordinated a conference call to discuss the possibility of amending HR2811 instead of banning all pythons. Present were Rep Meek's staff, Rep Rooney's staff, both minority & majority Committee staff, bill proponent HSUS and USARK. HSUS made a very emotionally charged argument to ban all pythons. Their argument was strong on rhetoric and weak on facts and science. HSUS suggested that any bill going forward must include the Burmese Python, African Rock Python and Reticulated Python. They stated that the Reticulated Python was an Invasive Species that could surpass the Burmese Python. Andrew Wyatt of USARK challenged that statement indicating that HSUS could not produce credible scientific evidence to support their position, and that in more than 30 years of captivity in the US Reticulated Pythons have never been shown to be invasive; or even likely to be invasive. Wyatt also voiced concerns that this bill goes far beyond just stopping the import of these animals, but would also stop interstate transport. HSUS challenged that assertion, but Todd Willens of Vitello Consulting (USARK DC Consultant) confirmed Wyatt's concerns reading directly from the Lacy Act. Wyatt indicated that there was probably more than 100,000 Burmese Pythons already in captivity and HR2811 made no provision for what would happen to all these very valuable animals that would become worthless overnight. Frank Vitello of Vitello Consulting pointed out that there was already a science based process of evaluation to determine what animals should be placed on the Injurious Wildlife list of the Lacy Act. He pointed out that what HSUS was suggesting was to avoid a scientific evaluation in favor of legislating science.

Following the meeting USARK was contacted and told of an agreement by committee staff to create an amendment that would limit the bill to the IMPORT of the Burmese and African Rock Pythons. Committee staff committed to work through the August break to work on how to create an exemption for the captive trade in the Burmese and African Rock Pythons. During the July 29th markup of the Full Committee we are told that Congressman Rooney will introduce the following amendment to HR2811:

AMENDMENT TO H.R. 2811
OFFERED BY MR. ROONEY OF FLORIDA
Beginning in line 6, strike ‘‘; of the constrictor
snake of the species Python genera’’ and insert ‘‘; of the
Burmese Python of the species Python molurus
bivittatus; of the African Rock Python of the species
Python sebae’’.

If we are successful in saving the Python industry there will still be a few "armchair quarterbacks" that will criticize our efforts. There is no guarantee that the amendment will be passed, but USARK has done everything possible, and will continue to pursue every avenue to protect the Reptile Industry. This bill is politically driven and is going to move forward with or without amendment. We are encouraged that the amendment was crafted by both majority and minority staff, thus it should send a positive signal to both Democrat and Republican Committee Members. We are hopeful the amendment passes. In either case we will continue to work with the bill sponsors and committee staff to further amend the bill before it reaches the House floor for a vote. We are appreciative that Congressmen Meek and Rooney, and the majority and minority committee staff favored our recommended changes and have committed to continue working with USARK as the bill moves through the legislative process.

USARK is also pleased to report that it has secured a meeting with the office of Senator Bill Nelson during August recess to discuss modifications to the Senate counterpart to HR2811, S373.



Click here to watch Webcast of House Judiciary Committee Markup

http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/calendar.html

Click here to donate $10 with dollar for dollar matching from Zoo Med

http://usark.org/donate.php
 
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