The turtle/tortoise groups I'm on aren't overly concerned either. The forums are mildly so but other turtle/tortoise groups not so much. Surprisingly besides my tarantula pages, the people most concerned about it are my guinea pig groups. It seems to be a really mixed bag of who cares out of the people who could be impacted.
I think a lot of hobbyists don’t realize the extent to which we rely on importation. Even for captive bred animals
That worries me, and also possibly being criminalized for traveling across state lines with my animals. Under this act it could be a felony. Totally unenforceable, ridiculous, and unfair. And we should be encouraging captive breeding, not making it more difficult. There DOES need to be increased regulation for wildlife trafficking, I'm not arguing there. It's that the language in this act is too black and white, too broad, and criminalizes large numbers of people who want to keep their animals when they move and seek out veterinary care for them.
That makes too much sense.
Completely agreed. The hobby isn't forever changed until it actually passes, but if we don't treat it like what it is (ludicrous potential regulation with potentially devastating affect) than it is almost sure to pass. It is only stoppable if there is actual mobilization...
Without getting into politics I just want to say that if people get too complacent our freedoms will continue to be taken away. Not just with this example, but across the board. I really, truly hope that this won't pass.
Likely because it is potential legislation with huge effect on the US hobby— and even some overflow effect into the Canadian and larger world hobby given proposed import/export restrictions. Plus its an opportunity to discuss how to best regulate the wildlife trade. As you can see, people have a lot of different opinions and things to say on ethics, bio security, role of government, right to own exotics, etc. It’s an important conversation both for the US and the world at large in the context of COVID and the ever growing illegal wildlife trade.
My thought is, why did it take seven minutes to explain something that could have been said in one?
Agreed and it's really unfortunate that people like that are so naive.
I also think that people are have been bombarded with so much tragedy and frightening news throughout the past 2 years that they're sort of growing numb. It's easy to distance yourself and think that something just won't affect you, even if it very well could. I think that for some folks it's a coping mechanism almost.
Yeah.
Unfortunately I agree. We've got to keep spreading the word and keep pushing back. We can't let these people discourage us, even though it's depressing to see.
Clint Laidlaw's video on this is very informative. I believe a PHD in biology professor with an exotics collection over some random in his basement any day.
The vast majority of captive bred spiders in the US are European. People simply assume that breeders here are able to supply the hobby, but it simply isn’t the case. We are decades behind Europe in this area, and there’s no chance we catch up to compensate if this passes. I wish people understood this.
It’s gaslighting pure and simple. Don’t forget that this isn’t how you feel - it’s how you’re reacting to objective faxt
Why? They don’t do anything about brown boxers today, why would they do anything about them after this passes? Today I spend tens of thousands trying to follow the rules so a bureaucrat can tell me they made up new ones after the plane carrying my import took off. If this passes that bureaucrat is going to keep harassing people who try to follow the new rules and that brown boxer’s going to ignore the new rules just as easily as they did the old ones.
That is the truth, but people in the US are unaware since literally no one discusses the Market side of the tarantula business in the US. It's just sad.