The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday amended and passed HR 2811, a bill that would add Burmese pythons and African rock pythons to the Lacey Act as injurious species.
The bill, which would have added all pythons as originally written, now moves to the full House, which is not expected to act on it until September at the earliest, after its August recess.
If the bill passes into law, the Lacey Act would prohibit the import, export and interstate movement of the two python species. Reptilekeepers, including the United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK), and pet industry members are expected to continue to work with legislators in an effort to further amend the bill to limit its trade restrictions to the importing of the two species. This would protect the existing commercial trade of captive-bred pythons.
Andrew Wyatt, President of USARK, said that representatives expressed a "renewed commitment to work with us (USARK) on future issues."
Wyatt further noted that this bill would restrict importation of these python species, but would still allow for interstate traffic and trade of captive-bred species.
The amendment, offered by Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-Fla), replaced the phrase “of the constrictor snake of the species Python genera” with the phrase “of the Burmese python of the species Python molurus bivattatus; of the African Rock Python of the species Python sebae.”
A related bill, S. 373, still sits in a Senate committee as originally written.
Even with the amendment, the bill would bypass the statuary listing process included in the Lacey Act, according to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC). That process requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct a risk analysis and seek public comment before listing a species as “injurious.” The Fish and Wildlife Service is currently conducting such an analysis, PIJAC reports.
PIJAC warned concerned pet owners that the legislation, if passed as written, would set a dangerous precedent of adding controversial species to the Lacey Act without hearings and sufficient study. That precedent could affect owners of other pets, including birds, fish and turtles, PIJAC reported.
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*sigh* Lets hope they don't ban pythons all-together!
The Reptile House
Click image to enlarge
Potentially regulated but common pets, such as the cornsnake, are not yet on the exempt list. |
The Delaware Department of Agriculture is accepting public comments through Aug. 1, 2009, on its proposed regulations governing possession and sell of exotic animals in the state.
The regulations cover “wild” mammals and reptiles “not native to or generally found in Delaware” and not included on an exempt list maintained by the state veterinarian.
Currently exempt animals include hamsters, iguanas, gerbils, mice, guinea pigs, bearded dragons, hedgehogs, Asian water monitors, basilisks, ferrets, tegu, chinchillas, geckos, chameleons, and sugar gliders.
However, potentially regulated but common pet animals not on the exempt list include anoles, rats, rabbits, hermit crabs, boas, ball pythons, corn snakes, garter snakes, milk snakes, ribbon snakes, box turtles, various tortoises (Russian, Leopard, red-footed) and Savannah monitors, according to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC), which issued a pet industry alert about the proposed regulations.
The proposed regulations establish a permit system for owning or selling regulated animals as well as enclosure and welfare requirements that permit holders must meet.
Individual pet owners would need a permit for each animal kept as a pet and could be subject to background checks by the agriculture department as well as premises inspections to “confirm the health and humane treatment of the exotic.” They must also obtain permits prior to buying a regulated animal. A previous version of the regulation allowed pet owners to apply for a permit within 10 days of an animal’s purchase.
Pet owners would not be able to breed regulated animals.
Sales permit holders, including pet stores, would be able to breed some regulated animals.
To obtain an annual, non-transferrable sales permit, however, a pet store must hold a current Delaware business license, be subject to a possible background check and meet several requirements.
These requirements include ensuring potential buyers possess the appropriate exotic animal permit from the state, confirming the buyer’s personal identification matches information on their exotic animal permit, providing the buyer with written information about the animal’s enclosure and welfare requirements, notifying the buyer that local laws might further govern ownership of an exotic, and guaranteeing all exotic animals put up for sale are in good health.
In addition, sellers must notify the agriculture department monthly with names and contact information of purchasers, as well as a description of each animal sold. For sales to parties outside of Delaware, the seller must maintain a record of the sale and notify the appropriate state veterinarian or government agency in the buyer’s state of the sale.
Failure to obtain or renew a permit would allow the state veterinarian to order the seizure and disposal of any regulated exotics without a hearing.
All permit holders would be required to notify the agriculture department monthly of any births or deaths of their animals.
Comments can be submitted to: Acting State Veterinarian, Caroline Hughes, VMD, Delaware Department of Agriculture, 2320 S. DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901.
Click here to read proposed regulations.
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Well, there you have it! YIKES!!
The Reptile House
