#usark

[peters-langdon]

Bioactive (with a few fake plants) 4x2x2 PVC enclosure for my <i>Boa imperator<i>, Echo! She’s still a baby (33” long currently) and has plenty of room… for now ;) @amazingpetenclosures

[somethingtodowithfandom]

Hey Y’all Animal Cruelty Warning

I don’t normally do this, but I just found out about something that has my blood boiling. I’ve been a pet owner my whole life—dogs, cats, and more—and have always considered pets to be family. Yes, even the fish I won at a fair; yes, even my chickens; yes, even the snakes.

Snakes can be a controversial pet—a lot of folks find them creepy. That’s perfectly fine, not everyone has to like the same thing. Some states have made owning certain snakes illegal; that’s also fine, assuming they’re doing so for the right reasons and handle it appropriately.

Then there’s Florida. In 2021, it became illegal to own reticulated and Burmese pythons in the state of Florida. This is because of an issue with them acting as an invasive species; due mostly to hurricanes, pet snakes in the wild became feral and were able to breed, resulting in native reptiles struggling to compete and occasionally becoming prey to the pythons.

That still leads to the trouble of persons who had owned pythons legally prior to 2021. Persons who legally owned these snakes before the ban are allowed to retain ownership until the pet’s death. Also, there is an amnesty program in place which allows exotic pet owners to continue caring for their animals until an appropriate home is found—this is run by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC.

Then this happened. More than thirty snakes were killed with a bolt gun, without anesthesia. Included among them was a boa constrictor named Big Shirl. Boas are not illegal pets. Big Shirl was pregnant at the time of her death—yes, I do mean pregnant, too, as boas give live birth and do not lay external eggs. In this video you can see Big Shirl writhing for several minutes after she was shot; Big Shirl was a beloved pet who had been part of her owner’s family for more than ten years, and as a boa, should have been in his life for at least ten more.

The owner was not present on his property when officers of the FWC came to kill his animals; the video above was taken by a friend who had worked with the owner for years and describes being present for the hatching of every snake they killed. He also had explained about the boa, who they were not to touch—the officers were aware of this, as shown by their own expressions after realizing they’d wrongfully killed Big Shirl. He can be heard on the video, clearly distraught by what was happening.

The video shows that the officer using the bolt gun is untrained and unfamiliar with the device; one officer poses for a picture with one of the snakes they killed, too. The animals are pulled out of their enclosures and shot in the head with the bolt gun without any anesthesia—most reptile vets do not use this method. In fact, snakes can be euthanized the same way a cat or dog can. These animals were slaughtered for no reason other than existing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I genuinely feel sick. These animals should have been safe—they were in their homes, being actively loved and cared for. I know I would be devastated if this were done to any of my pets—and when I think back on the temperament of the sweet little ball python I was lucky enough to help care for as a child, it makes me sick to think that someone could take such a trusting and loving creature from his safe place and deliver a slow, agonizing death. I just don’t have the words for how upset I am right now.

If any of you have the time, consider calling the people involved with the FWC. If you aren’t comfortable calling, here are all the emails I was able to find:

[email protected] Chief Communications Officer

[email protected] Acting Executive Director

[email protected] Deputy Chief of Staff

[email protected] Chief of Staff

[email protected] Chief Financial Officer

[email protected] Officer

[email protected] Officer

Please, please, please do what you can to help bring this to more people’s attention. Dozens of pets were just cruelly and unethically killed—these people need to understand how wrong what they did was, and they can only learn by being told. The owners and family of these reptiles deserve to know that they are not alone and that they have people who will support them.

[thevivarium]

[crispysnakes]

Buried within the 2,912 pages of the America COMPETES Act of 2022 lie Lacey Act amendments that affect all non-domesticated pet owners and the greater pet community. COMPETES is an acronym for Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength. The stated purpose of the Act is to strengthen America’s economic and national security but obviously, this was slipped into the massive bill in hopes to go unnoticed. The amendments would reverse the USARK federal lawsuit victory by reinstating the ban on interstate transportation of species listed as injurious under the Lacey Act. The bill would also create a “white list” (see #2 below) that could affect millions of pet owners, as well as pet businesses. If your species of interest, even your pet, is listed as injurious (which could happen because it can survive outside somewhere in the U.S.), then it cannot be transported across state lines. That means you could not even take a pet with you if you moved to another state or needed veterinary care across a state border. This does not just ban sales but prohibits all interstate transportation. This will trickle down to hundreds or thousands of common pet species. The America COMPETES Act may pass in the House next week. If passed in the House, it will then be sent to the Senate to be reconciled with an innovation policy package called the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, or USICA, that passed in the Senate last year. The America COMPETES Act is the House Democrats' response to USICA (which does not contain the Lacey Act Amendment). The House Rules Committee will hear the America COMPETES Act on February 1, 2022. This is the same language we saw introduced by Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Senate Bill 626 in 2021. Briefly, the amendments will: 1. Provide that the Lacey Act bans the interstate transport of species listed as injurious. Specifically, it replaces Lacey’s current language ‘‘shipment between the continental United States’’ with ‘‘transport between the States." 2. Create a “white list” of species that can be imported. This means that any animal (reptile, amphibian, fish, bird, mammal, invertebrate) that is not on the white list is by default treated as an injurious species and is banned from importation. 3. Create a new authority allowing FWS to use an “emergency designation” that becomes effective immediately after being published in the Federal Register unless an extension of no more than 60 days is allowed. That means no due process, public input, hearings, advanced notice, etc. for injurious listings. 4. Permit FWS to not allow importation if a species has not been imported in “minimal quantities” (to be defined) in the year prior to the enactment of this Act. 5. The effective date would be one year after the enactment of this Act. Read the relevant amendment text (these are pages 1661-1665) at https://usark.org/.../upl.../2022/01/2022-HR4521-excerpt.pdf. We will provide more details on actions to take. In our landmark court decision, four federal judges agreed that USARK was correct and that the Lacey Act (Title 18 Section 42 of the U.S. Code) did not ban interstate transportation of injurious species based on the original language of the Lacey Act and the intent of Congress. As a result of this fight for our members and the herpetocultural community, this meant animals domestically bred under human care could be moved and sold across state lines (within the continental United States). For herpetoculturists’ concerns, this included some species of constrictor snakes and 201 species of salamanders. SAMPLE MESSAGING and more at https://usark.org/2022lacey/. 

[derynstarling]

Hatchling tree monitor inks are done. <3 Working on a bunch of mini projects to help raise money for both USARK, conservation, and my fiance's car fixes.

It's going to be a really busy couple of art weeks

[smolgwennie]

Please I need y’all to help. The federal government is once again sticking their foot in the door to try and cause a mass cascade affect that not only negatively affects citizens, but small businesses, zoos, and rescues over the entire country.

They’re attempting to change the Lacey Act, to ban the transport and sale of any creature considered “injurous”; this means anything that is invasive, considered a threat, or that some people up top just don’t like.

USARK better defines the changes than I do, but PLEASE, follow their instructions on their page and email, call, and pester the hell out of senators to make sure this amendment WILL NOT PASS. I promise you, this starts at reptiles, but it will not end there. Birds, fish, and more WILL be affected.

https://usark.org/2022lacey/

ALERT: America COMPETES Act of 2022 Lacey Act Amendments | USARK - United States Association of Reptile Keepers

[biofaunaexotics]

ACTION ALERT: ALL REPTILE KEEPERS

On the heels of what was another successful educational event at the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center here in Baton Rouge, it literally *KILLS ME* to see this posted by Kevin McCurley of NERD in response to what is now a HUGE threat to Zoos, Aquariums, and individuals like myself and my fiance who have dedicated our personal and professional lives to showing children and adults the wonders of the reptile world through safe educational outlets. THIS is why it is so important to pay close attention to what you say, what you post, and how you portray your animals! From Kevin:

To all keepers that feel it is their right to keep reptiles and other odd creatures. To those that think it is their right to do as they like in their homes and express themselves as they choose. Consider this. At this very moment there is a bill - State by State Legislation that is being shopped by International Defenders of Wildlife to END all public display of wild animals. This means if passed, you would not be able to take out your pet and show people in any form that could be regarded as education or a performance. This bill encompasses Elephants down to your pet Bearded Dragon. By handling this "wild animal" you are endangering the audience, friends and spectators. You are also being cruel and inhumane to this animal. Do you defiant nay sayers say this can not happen? How do you feel the videos of our worst behavior and levels of danger our animals may pose can be used as a weapon against us to state legislators? Remember, you can not argue each species, it's "wild non - domesticated animals " are thought of as wild. Remember, they are equating Elephants, Lions, Tigers and such with a pet Leopard Gecko. Help me understand that things will be ok! 

As an Example, Massachusetts : ACTION ALERT S490 MASSACHUSETTS TENTATIVE HEARING DATE SB490 is a Senate bill in the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. This bill will eliminate all educational programs using exotic wildlife within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This bill is being pushed forward by animal rights activists who want to end ALL USE of animals, including as pets. Even if you don't own reptiles or like animals in general, you should feel outraged at the impudence of the animal rights extremists who are most definitely the momentum of this bill. They have sought to decide for you, what species of animals you can educate your children with. How many of you have held a reptile-related birthday party for your kids, or had one of your kids attend one? This will end if this bill passes. How many of us had our lives changed forever because someone showed up somewhere with a snake, turtle, lizard, frog or crocodilian? This will not occur again if this bill passes. How many budding naturalists and scientists will be stunted and discouraged by the passage of this bill? How much poorer will our world be because of this? How many species will vanish into obscurity and extinction because the public, absent an infrequent visit to a zoo or aquarium, will let these creatures slip from their minds?

[i-m-snek]

GUYS