THE PLOT THICKENS (Another Snake Ban)

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chris_mcmartin
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THE PLOT THICKENS (Another Snake Ban)

Post by chris_mcmartin »

http://www.wilsoncountynews.com/article ... ive-snakes

Listen to the veterinarian's comments....

He wants to start with a ban in his own county (Wilson County TX), then move next door to Bexar County (San Antonio), then expand the ban to the entire state. The ban apparently covers non-native venomous snakes and the "Big Five" constrictors.

"If you don't have antivenin, you'll die within 30 minutes..."

"These things are aggressive--they'll actually stalk you. Cobras are known to kill entire families."

One of the politicians actually tries to talk sense into the vet by narrowly tailoring the ordinance.

The vet responds, "I think this term 'non-indigenous' will really help us."

"If people don't think, we have to think FOR them."
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dery
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Re: Another Snake Ban; or, The Uninformed Veterinarian

Post by dery »

Omg, what overkill. :roll:
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Tom Lott
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Re: Another Snake Ban; or, The Uninformed Veterinarian

Post by Tom Lott »

Seeking a bit more information concerning this action, I downloaded the pertinent regulation (PDF):

http://www.co.wilson.tx.us/ips/export/s ... 121126.pdf

From the document:

§2.01 Definitions

The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

(1) Controlled exotic snake--Any live snake that is:

(A) a venomous snake not indigenous to Texas;

(B) any of the following:
(i) African rock python (Python sebae);
(ii) Asiatic rock python, (Python molurus);
(iii) green anaconda, (Eunectes murinus);
(iv) reticulated python, (Python reticulatus);
(v) southern African python, (Python natalensis); or

(C) a hybrid of any species listed in this paragraph.

(2) Possession--Actual care, custody, or control.


Up to this point, the new addition to the county ordinance is repeating state and federal restrictions already in place (and therefore seems totally unnecessary), BUT THEN THERE'S THIS:

2.03 Possession Prohibited

No person within the scope of this order may possess a controlled exotic snake, even if that person possesses a controlled exotic snake permit from the State of Texas.
[emphasis mine]

This latter point (which was raised by SWCHR at the Herp Law Conference in Houston) brings up the inconsistency in that any local governing body in Texas can effectively override a permission granted by the state (essentially rendering the state permit meaningless). This is possibly something that needs addressing by herp stakeholders (after all, we don't generally allow local governments to override, say, concealed carry permits and such granted by the state).
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Re: Another Snake Ban; or, The Uninformed Veterinarian

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Tom Lott wrote:This latter point (which was raised by SWCHR at the Herp Law Conference in Houston)
Do you know if anyone produced a transcript of any of the focus groups at that event? I have some very poor-quality audio streams from them, but have not attempted to transcribe them (they're VERY low quality).
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Tom Lott
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Re: Another Snake Ban; or, The Uninformed Veterinarian

Post by Tom Lott »

Chris,

The only recordings of the Conference proceedings that I know of are here:

http://nraac.org/mp3/

I suspect, however, that these are the same low quality ones that you are referring to. NRAAC promised us that transcripts would also be available, but I have yet to see them.

There was a gentleman who was shooting video of the entire proceedings, but this may have been for his personal use. I am not sure who was taping the audio provided on the NRAAC site, but audio was a problem generally in the room where the discussions were held, with many of the speakers being barely audible due to the fact that the single microphone available couldn't be passed around quickly enough to follow the conversation.
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Re: Another Snake Ban; or, The Uninformed Veterinarian

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Thanks Tom, yes, the NRAAC MP3s are the only sources I have.
Tom Lott wrote:There was a gentleman who was shooting video of the entire proceedings, but this may have been for his personal use.
Gerald Keown passed the fella's name to me; I sent him an email but never heard back... :?
I am not sure who was taping the audio provided on the NRAAC site, but audio was a problem generally in the room where the discussions were held, with many of the speakers being barely audible due to the fact that the single microphone available couldn't be passed around quickly enough to follow the conversation.
I hope that was passed along as a critique for their next event!
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Re: Another Snake Ban; or, The Uninformed Veterinarian

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Sounds like the county quietly passed an addendum to this law, expanding the ban to ALL boas and pythons...

http://www.herpnation.com/audio/dks-sr6-011413/

I haven't given this a listen yet so I don't know the details. However, if this is true, I think it fits what I perceive as the PeTA/HSUS plan to slowly get all reptiles banned. Start at local/county levels (under the radar of larger watchdog groups), with legislation that "doesn't take YOUR snakes, just these OTHER snakes," then slowly, quietly, expand the list of banned animals until they DO take "your" snakes--or turtles, or lizards, etc.
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dery
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Re: THE PLOT THICKENS (Another Snake Ban)

Post by dery »

Wahh? Even small species?? Shheesh it snowballed quickly.
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Re: THE PLOT THICKENS (Another Snake Ban)

Post by Jimi »

This latter point (which was raised by SWCHR at the Herp Law Conference in Houston) brings up the inconsistency in that any local governing body in Texas can effectively override a permission granted by the state (essentially rendering the state permit meaningless). This is possibly something that needs addressing by herp stakeholders (after all, we don't generally allow local governments to override, say, concealed carry permits and such granted by the state).
(Emphasis mine.)

Whoa, that seems constitutionally-inverted.

I sincerely enjoyed the permit system in FL, where the state wildlife agency made sure to put the kibosh on any uppity town or county wanting to pull this kind of crap: "WE were granted sole authority by the legislature to manage wildlife - you were not granted diddly on this topic, and you cannot just take it, either. Now bugger off." Something like that, anyway. Maybe not quite so hostile...
after all, we don't generally allow local governments to override, say, concealed carry permits and such granted by the state
Exactly. You could add any number of other examples of state-regulated or -permitted activities not being vulnerable to local meddling. Insurance law, nursing law, education criminal law, etc.

While this may smell of HSUS or PETA, it may also just be a small-town politico wanting to get some air-time to boost his bid for a higher-profile job. Either way, I hope this gambit gets squashed.

Wow this is aggravating. Yet another wake-up call to get together, or get rolled. Can herpers even do that, is the question...

Boos,
Jimi
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Re: THE PLOT THICKENS (Another Snake Ban)

Post by chris_mcmartin »

The hearing on the proposed ordnance is/was today...if anyone has updates, please share. :)
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Re: THE PLOT THICKENS (Another Snake Ban)

Post by chris_mcmartin »

chris_mcmartin wrote:The hearing on the proposed ordnance is/was today...if anyone has updates, please share. :)
"tanks" posted an update on the main forum:

http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=15174
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