Are you kidding me?!!?!?!?!?!?!

[Skumbo]

Originally Posted by youngster

I actually think we have relatively laid back exotic laws.
Eastern hoggies are state endangered.
Where are you located?

Originally Posted by Gungirl

I am with Eli.. I am in VT and our laws seem fairly loose still.

Ah, I'm still pretty new to it all, so many hobbies its hard to keep laws in line between states, heh.

I'm technically in Newport, but I'm like.. in the corner and 5 feet to the right of my place is the town border.

[buffcoat]

As I live in WV, it seems the episode that started this "movement" for the tri-state area occurred about an hour from me in OH. The guy had bears, lions, tigers and a few other exotic animals. And few is a very nice term. Sad. As they say, it takes one bad apple to ruin the bunch.

If this passes I have no idea what I or my girlfriend will do.

[Skumbo]

Originally Posted by buffcoat

As I live in WV, it seems the episode that started this "movement" for the tri-state area occurred about an hour from me in OH. The guy had bears, lions, tigers and a few other exotic animals. And few is a very nice term. Sad. As they say, it takes one bad apple to ruin the bunch.

If this passes I have no idea what I or my girlfriend will do.

I heard about all that a while ago, they "had" to kill all of the animals, right?
I was worried it would go this way. The guy killed himself after letting loose all his animals (a ton)

So people use that for their own motives... damn fear mongers...

[buffcoat]

Exactly Skumbo. He let all his exotics loose and then killed himself.
If you are easily upset, you don't need to click the link

Zanesville Animal Massacre Included 18 Rare Bengal Tigers - ABC News

Now everyone is wigging out and we responsible "exotic" owners could pay the price.

*edit for squeamish warning.

[Rogue628]

IIRC, wasn't the guy found with only one wound (can't remember if it was a bite or a scratch of some sort) that was caused by an animal. If those animals were so vicious, it would seem like they would have gotten him before he managed to let them all out, or at the very least, had more animal wounds than what he had if they were truly wild. He must have given them a decent life for them to be that kind to his body. I could be wrong though....

[kernel]

The senate version has passed through the senate and just has to be approved by the house.

Originally Posted by EricRoscoe

Two bills have been introduced into the West Virginia General Assembly that would BAN the ownership of countless reptiles under proposed Dangerous Animal Legislation. On January 30, 2012 Delegate Mannypenny introduced HB4344, 'Dangerous Wild Animals' into the WV House. On February 1, 2012 Senator Kessler introduced a senate companion bill, SB477, into the WVSenate. Although the House bill does not appear to be as restrictive as the Senate bill, collectively these bills could outlaw ALL Non-Native Reptiles in WV. Both HB4344 & SB477 are standard bill templates written by the Animal Rights Industry. As such, they are poorly written by those who have little understanding of the natural history or captive husbandry of these animals. They are designed to be as broad and restrictive as possible, without any regard for the actual people they affect, nor the welfare of the animals they would displace.

Although there is a moderate occupational risk in working with certain reptiles, historically and statistically there is virtually ZERO Public Safety Risk. Most of these reptiles are tropical in nature and would perish within minutes/hours of exposure to the WV Winter; posing virtually ZERO Invasive Species Risk. The idea that these animals pose an invasive species risk in WV is preposterous. Working with traditional livestock and pets presents far more invasive species and public safety risk than working with reptiles. 35 people per year preposterous by dogs in the US. Cats, dogs and hogs wreak havock in every state of the Union as an invasive species. By comparison, reptiles are relatively safe and benign. The efforts by the Animal are killed to exaggerate risk posed from captive reptiles, and sensationalize it through the media is reprehensible and irresponsible. No one outside of the keepers facility has ever been killed by a captive reptile. There has never been a death attributed to a captive reptile in WV. No tropical reptile stands a chance of introduction into WV.

**HB4344 has been referred to the House Natural Resources Committee. SB477 has been placed on a fast track and has already passed out of the WV Senate and is now pending in the House.We need volunteers for a lobbying day at the WV State House. Get involved TODAY!

***SB477 and HB4344 could completely decimate the responsible and legitimate reptile industry in WV destroying hundreds of small businesses and families, along with thousands of jobs.

The reptile industry in West Virginia represents approximately $15 million in annual trade, thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of animals. USARK OPPOSES HB4344 &SB477. They are poorly written and demonstrate what poor information the bill's sponsors received from proponents and staff. USARK asks that ALL reptiles be removed from SB477 &HB4344.

Click here to send letter opposing SB477: http://usark.org/campaign.php?id=34 (about 12 of the email addresses bounce back, but the other31 go through)

Click here to send letter opposing HB4344: http://usark.org/campaign.php?id=35 (about 12 of the email addresses bounce back, but the other 13 go through)

Click here to read SB477: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=sb477%20intr.htm&yr=2012&se sstype=RS&i=477
Click here to read HB4344: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb4344%20intr.htm&yr=2012&s esstype=RS&i=4344
BE ADVISED! Some of the email addresses of WV House Members are bouncing back, but the majority are going through!

[Skumbo]

Sent the emails!

This is so stupid, how about we ban having children because they can turn into drug addicts which ruin our society. What? only a few do that? WHO CARES BAN EM ALL CHILDREN ARE EVIL

[Norm66]

It passed. There's still no list of species that will be affected. Another bill bans only venomous snakes, crocodilians an certain monomer species as far as reptiles. I'm hoping they go with that....

[millertime89]

waiting on the governor's signature now as far as I know, once that happens it depends on state law when it goes into effect.

[Norm66]

The list won't be out until January. It's up to the DNR. Hopefully they will be sane about it.

[millertime89]

how often is the government sane?

[Norm66]

Originally Posted by millertime89

how often is the government sane?

Fair question. There was a House bill that only included venomous snakes, crocadilians and certain monitors. I'm hoping they stick to that list.

[kernel]

That's a load of crap!

[StuDude]

Define exotic.

[millertime89]

Originally Posted by StuDude

Define exotic.

That's what this is going to come down to, the typical definition is non-native species, but that won't fly.