Friday, July 26, 2013

Wirecutter has a post from Sara on a proposal to expand a law

over here: short excerpt:
They realized that they bit off more than they could chew. People like their fish tanks. Kids love their hamsters and gerbils and cute little fluffy pets. But snakes? Snakes are an easy way to get your foot in the door. Snakes are scary, and there’s not a large enough group to fight for them. Introduce HR 996. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr996/text This is “To establish an improved regulatory process for injurious wildlife to prevent the introduction and establishment in the United States of nonnative wildlife and wild animal pathogens and parasites that are likely to cause harm.” Shouldn’t get anywhere… It’s the same damn thing! But wait! They DID get to pretty much out of nowhere get burmese pythons, african rocks, and yellow anacondas added to the Lacey Act. Remember all those tv blurbs about how burmese pythons were everywhere? They made it look like you couldn’t step outside your door without being attacked by a “GIANT KILLER SNAKE”! Shock and gasp! Yup, boom. US Fish and Wildlife used bad science and got them added. They lied. (again, shock, right?) The pets that people have had for years are no longer allowed across state lines. Get a job somewhere else and move? If you bring your pet that you have had for 15 years, you are breaking a federal law. You’ve got literally thousands of dollars invested in a breeding project? Too bad.

And now they want to make it even easier to add more.

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