Very well put,... read my post on this in the burm forum,n/p

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Posted by BrianSmith on April 24, 2003 at 14:55:59:

In Reply to: Poll Question: Full ban on ALL reptile importation. Yay/Nay? posted by Kestrel on April 24, 2003 at 01:28:06:

:This has always been a sticky subject. I personally do not agree with the mass importation that goes on, like baby ball pythons, nile monitors, savanna monitors, and WC animals that are already abdundant in captive bred collections like retics, burms, adult balls, and some adult monitors. I agree that things like these should not be imported. But in a different viewpoint, I grew up first in the aviculture hobby, and its a great example of what can happen when all importation of WC animals is stopped. Given parrots are also sentient animals, unlike reptiles, which was another big reason they were banned from importation, but it caused all sorts of problems with captive populations. Breeding stock dies out, and massive inbreeding occurs, causing geneticly weaker stock with alot of health issues, and dramatically smaller clutch and birthrate size. Some birds that were common in the 80s are now almost non existant in todays aviculture, due to the WC birds dieing off of old age, or health problems in the case of some from their delicate and specific nature that captive breeders haven't figured out yet. Kind of like how some of the very delicate asian ratsnake would suffer if all importation was banned on them. What it all boils down to, is you really do need new blood for healthy captive breeding to continue, BUT this does not mean a mass rape of nature that is currently going on in the industry today.

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::Regardless of if the reptiles are "captive hatched" in farms in other countries, or ripped straight out of their natural environments, these animals suffer greatly as a result of being shipped and warehoused in cramped and filthy conditions. Furthermore, this importation of reptiles drives the prices way down and helps to land these poor animals into the hands of neglectful keepers. Let's try to put a stop to this somehow. We can start by taking a vote and see what percentage of true herpers really care what happens to these mistreated animals just to turn a quick buck. Please vote "Yay!" if you actually care to help put a stop to the suffering of these wonderful creatures. Thank you.

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