Keith Benson wrote:
>
> Yep, keeps us busy. Lets face it though - when was the last time you saw a dog
> with MBD? Not for nothing - what percentage of dogs die each year from owner
> inexperience? Heck - cats would be even lower!
I dunno Keith--Granted the #s are lower, but I see lots of starving, unsocialized
and finally euthanized fighting dogs just in PG County MD & DC alone. Not to mention
the roadkills and abandoned animals.
I just think that herps are an easier target because they don't have cute fuzzy
faces. I agree there's a HUGE problem with the pet trade in herps (anybody need an
iguana?? got a rescue right now who needs a home), but I think HSUS is getting a
bit, shall we say, PETAish. Pet adoption processes with HS shelters are getting so
horrid that good prospective dog owners are going to breeders because they're
getting rejected because they aren't home all day!!
>
> Sadly - looking at herps as a group - there are many many many times as many WC
> animals than CB. With the odd exception (leopard gex and sulcatta) the reality
> is the CB is really only served to keep people trying to breed these things -
> and you have to get the founders from somewhere, no? Here's an analagy - only
> after psittacine birds could no longer be imported did folks really get their
> act together and crank out the CB chicks. Until then the average person would
> still rather buy the import - why. Cost. CB will only reduce the demand for WC
> in groups like this - where people know the value of getting clean animals
> habituated to captivity.
Yeah and now there's a huge problem associated with trying to place captive-bred
insane, undersocialized, highly intelligent, human-imprinted, noisy birds when their
owners can't deal anymore. Same problem as iguanas--though brought about by all the
relatively inexpensive CB birds available on the market. I'm pretty sure HSUS is
also going after psittacine pet market as well and they may be thinking that the cb
herp trade will result in the same problems.
> > I think HSUS has gone overboard to single out
> > reptiles.
>
> I agree - but think about why they did it.
I agree too and I understand why--BUT--there are huge problems with almost all
aspects of pets and it ain't caused by the type of animal--it ain't the heat, it's
the stupidity. Once birds and reptiles go, what's next? Ferrets & bunnies? Cats?
Dogs?
>
> But - remember that this is a very special subset of the herp keeping
> population. This group is not representative of the average lizard/snake or
> turtle owner. The general herp keeping public is light years behind this group.
Absolutely--I do enviro ed for a living. There is an appalling lack of understanding
about the most basic conservation issues. Most cat & dog owners don't get it and the
novice at the herp expo or Petwhatever buying one of everything and paying no
attention to husbandry advice most certainly doesn't get it. But the folks on this
list DO get it, which is why I lurk here!
> No IACUC on the planet
> would consider the losses worth the info gained.
Concurr totally--I agree with most everything you've said. Yet I still can't agree
with the HSUS position. I think people, most of whom only care about the natural
world when it's presented by obnoxious Australians, would care even less if their
kids, or brothers, or neighbors didn't bring home the occasional turtle, snake or
lizard. If herp keeping is outlawed or severly curtailed, herps become even more
foreign and "dangerous." Their right to exist becomes immaterial when pitted against
society's "need" for more megamansions, spoiled children, and SUVs.
I also think the HSUS as a whole has a tenuous grasp of conservation. Some of the
recommedations they give for handling "nuisance" wildlife are truly chilling and
some of their shelters are far too fast with the needle or freezer when presented
with injured or orphaned wildlife!!
I know you all know all this--but this little ramble has helped me figure out what
to say in my letters to HSUS & USDA.
Thanks all!
Leslie
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