Group lobbying for possible Amphibian pet trade ban in US

[SludgeMunkey]

While I will not buy into your sarcasm and arrogance, I will point out your quote referenced the wrong law for New Mexico. The current 2010 proposal as seen on the NMFG site explains the new permit system. This is being implemeted as we speak.

[Iratus ranunculus]

While I will not buy into your sarcasm and arrogance, I will point out your quote referenced the wrong law for New Mexico. The current 2010 proposal as seen on the NMFG site explains the new permit system. This is being implemeted as we speak.

The 2010 version is not substantially different.

The fees are as follows:

(a) class 1: importation of 1 to 5 animals 25.00 (b) class 2: importation of 6 to 99 animals 75.00 (c) class 3: importation of greater than 100 animals 300.00

Thousands of dollars yes... Of course. You are only a full order of magnitude off. If you are an importer you may have to eat the cost of disease testing, but having that testing done is perfectly reasonable.

[Ribbirta]

I do think that more hobbyists need to read more of the bills being proposed for themselves, but that is true about anything that is going on in the political world. And maybe not as many hobbyists are contributing to the conservation of a species as they think, but not everyone who enjoys keeping frogs and observing their antics needs to be a vet or a scientist. Some hobbyists my contribute to conservation of a local species and never be recognized for it. One of the best things one can do to conserve the local species is to have a fish free-suitable small pond for amphibians to breed in , and I know many people who do.

Now regarding this bill, yes sometimes these things may start out as sensible proposals and turn into things like "draconian" bans, and yes most legislators don't understand the joy a herp hobbyist gets from caring for these critters and may not take it into consideration, but at this stage, testing IMPORTED animals for a devastating disease is not a bad idea. What all the concerned breeders and keepers need to do form this point is stay updated and know what is going on for themselves, and write letters and make cases as necessary. Right now the legislation you could say is equivilent to needing to prove that your pet pit bull is not a viscious killer before you give him to someone else, not banning them from being owned by responsible people. So take a deep breath. Ignore hot headed, arrogant sarcasm, and become and stay informed on the subject.