WV Needs Your Help with another pet bill (sb477)

LAST CHANCE West Virginia
On Saturday WV SB477 passed in a vote on the floor of the West Virginia House of Delegates. This bill could potentially ban all non-native reptiles in WV. The language is vague and will be left to interpretation by the Rules Committee. This follows passage on the floor of the Senate. SB477 now stands ready to be signed into law by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin. Please call Governor Tomblin and ask him to VETO SB477!

Phone Campaign:

Sample Script-

Please VETO SB477. I work with reptiles. It was rushed through the legislative process without ANY stakeholder input. It is a poorly written bill that lacks specifics and leaves everything to be decided by folks who have limited expertise. It will negatively impact a $15 million annual commerce in reptiles in WV. Hundreds of small family owned businesses could be destroyed. SB477 will hurt me and my ability to survive in tough economic times. Please VETO SB477. Thank you.

Contact-

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin- (304) 558-2000



DO IT TODAY!

 

Personally, I'm on the fence with this issue. I agree that an outright ban is harsh and counter-productive; however, something needs to be done and seemingly nobody wants to push or fund educating potential buyers for fear of raising prices and losing sales, but without that, far too many juvenile jungle monsters are falling into the hands of those who buy for all the wrong reasons and have no clue just how large and aggressive these creatures will become when they mature. IMHO, some are best left in the jungle.

I love my snakes just as much as my SW tank, but I'm glad I had the resources to do my own research before making a decision on which species I would be able to keep long-term, because the pet store owners/operators where I bought them couldn't tell me anything about them! When the seller doesn't know any more (and maybe even less) than the buyer, that's where the problem starts. I don't understand how a reputable breeder could support that and still consider him/herself responsible.

TM2C, but for those who agree with you, here's a bump for your thread.

 

I am with you Mr.B. Now I realise that most reptiles cannot live in WV's climate should they be released by an irresponsible owner, but in Florida if you have been following the devastating affects of invasive species on the natural habitat.(Namely the Pythons and Monitor Lizards running amuck in the Everglades) I can understand putting a ban on these animals in places were there realease could cause a major problem, but it seems to me WV is not the place to start.
I would support a ban on importing any non native species into an area were there release could cause a wild population to develop but this too is a touchy subject as there are many other animals that would have to be added to that list including fish.

 

I'm not so sure WV isn't a good place to start- in fact, it's as good as any. While most 'exotic pets' wouldn't survive the winter, there's no state in the continental US where they couldn't wreak havoc on a local community for the summer, endangering pets and small children.

Another problem- look at how many owners or their children that have been injured or killed by large exotic pets. People are just plain ignorant where these animals are concerned. They're only cute and cuddly when they're small. They do not stay that way forever.

 

Here is the main issue, the bill is written poorly. With the way it is written, a person can say dogs, cats, even sw fish cannot be in WV because they are not native. That is the issue with this bill.

 

While you did mention that it was somewhat vague in your OP, you stated that it was specifically targeting non-native reptiles. There I do still stand by my opinion- the gov has no business allowing large, dangerous animals to be imported, bred, and sold to the average Joe snake-handler-wannabe. Some are best left in the jungle or should require a permit and gov regulated housing quarters just like lions, tigers and bears. For the rest, there should be a requirement that at least the seller has some knowledge of the species they carry. I totally disagree with any notion that the exotic pet trade should be allowed to continue as the hap-hazard money racket that it has become.

Could you post a link to the actual bill in question?

 

I agree with you, there are many animals being sold in stores that should not be available to anyone but zoos.

Here are the links:

SB 477 Text
HB 4344 Text

 

Sorry i just finished reading the bill and have to disagree with you on this. The bill sets out clearly that things like dogs, cats, and fish will NOT be affected by this. Like i doubt someone will try and throw a golden retriever into the same class as a timber wolf, or a rhino, or maye a black bear.

"(4) “Domestic animal,” or the plural, means an animal which, through extremely long association with humans, predominately as companions and pets, has been bred to a degree which has resulted in genetic changes affecting the temperament, color, conformation or other attributes of the species to an extent that makes them unique and distinguishable from wild individuals of their species. A comprehensive list of “domestic animals” shall be set forth by the division, in consultation with the department and the bureau, pursuant to the rulemaking authority of this article or the current legislative authority of the division."

and then this is the list they posted of the animals that will be affected

" (1) Lions, tigers, cougars, jaguars, cheetahs, leopards, snow leopards and clouded leopards;
(2) Wolves, excluding wolf-hybrids;
(3) All bears;
(4) Animals from the family hyaenidae, such as hyenas;
(5) Rhinoceroses;
(6) All nonhuman primate species;
(7) All elephant species;
(8) All species of the atractaspidae family of the squamata order from the reptilia class and the dispholidus typus of the colubridae family of the same order and same class;
(9) All species of the elapidae family of the squamata order from the reptilia class, such as cobras, mambas, kraits, coral snakes, and Australian tiger snakes;
(10) All species of the hydrophiidae family of the squamata order from the reptilia class, such as sea snakes;
(11) Water monitors and crocodile monitors from the varanidae family of the squamata order from the reptilia class;
(12) All species of the viperidae family of the squamata order from the reptilia class, such as rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, bushmasters, puff adders, and gaboon vipers; and
(13) All species of the crocodilia order from the reptilia class, such as crocodiles, alligators, calmans and gavials."

 

Did you read all of SB477?

"(6) “Wild and exotic animal,” “animal” or the plural mean any animals other than those defined as domestic and livestock, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fresh water fish that are either native wildlife or exotic, including hybrids thereof, which, due to their inherent nature, may be considered dangerous to humans, other animals or the environment. A comprehensive list of “wild and exotic animals” shall be set forth by the division, in consultation with the department and the bureau, pursuant to the rule-making authority of this article or the current legislative authority of the division."

Did you know that there are many animals such as rabbits that are considered exotics in the pet trade? Almost all of the reptiles and commonly kept birds are exotics. Most FW fish are exotics.

Here is a small list of exotic pets (ones that have articles on that website there are many more), that with the way the definition is written, can easily be added to the bill.

Exotic Pets A to Z - an Index to Exotic Pet Information and Species

 

fair point, you could argue the fact where they make the point if the species has been bred in captivity and its mood altered than it could be defined as domestic, most fresh water fish have been tank bred and most sw fish have changed their mentality since living in the ocean to living in our tanks, alot of this has been attributed to our tank breeding.

I think you are making a valid point, raising awarness in the public to stop these bills.

Look what the senate is trying to do to the internet. And for the number of people who download and stream how many of them spoke up against this bill and what happened.