Quote Originally Posted by Lady's Human View Post
The only problem with the legislation is that in the southern US< particularly the Everglades, anacondas and boas are highly invasive and damaging species.

They SHOULD be controlled.

Just because you're a responsible owner and don't plan on releasing your pet into the wild, many do.
For one, even in Northern Florida these snake find it hard to live (and there have been no recorded cases of these snakes surviving the winter in the rest of the Southern US). And two, this isn't just about snakes. This is also about bettas, goldfish, cavies, pacman frogs, etc. Basically (if not every) pet owned in captivity. Third, most of the population of snakes in Florida is caused by a massive break-out of one breeder's stock when a hurricane hit. Most (not all) can be traced just to that guy's stock. Pet owners releasing their animals makes up a very small percentage. And fourth, if this was a licensing law, I would be all for it. A license should be required for ANY pet, imo. I completely don't agree with bans or the Lacey Act, however. If I move out, I don't want to just get rid of my snake who I've had for so many years, just because I can no longer take it with me. Just like a dog/cat owner wouldn't want to leave their dog/cat behind. Being unable to transport across borders also seriously affects breeders' abilities to sell, and thus those animals become less common and more expensive.

This isn't about controlling these animals. This about getting rid of all pets altogether, and this is just the first step to banning all pets. They realized that when they tried banning reticulated pythons and Burmese pythons a few years ago, and it fell through. They had to settle with the Lacey Act. That's what we were willing to put up with, but it won't stop there. They'll pick it back up again when people feel more comfortable with it.