Virginia Exotic Ban Update

Good afternoon,

Just wanted to let everyone know that the state has decided to launch an information gathering initiative with all stake holders. They only want representatives from the hobbyist community and so David Means, Jared Watts, Brian Sharp and Dr. Scott Stahl have been selected to be your representatives for some of these interviews and talks. They are also interviewing the following: individuals from permitted exotic animal facilities (public and private), individual private wildlife rehabilitators, nonprofit organizations, local government and law enforcement, state agencies involved with permitting, and the federal departments of agriculture and fish and wildlife.

I will be interviewed as a representative for the Virginia Herpetological Society. Our stakes in this are in regards to reptiles and amphibians only and I will have no comment regarding any other exotic animal.

Stay tuned for more information of if we may need your help. Let the games begin......

After meeting most these guys last year in Richmond I can say we will be very well represented. Thanks again for all the hard work.

Awesome news. It's very appreciated

Mucho Gracias! Hope all goes well

Hello everyone,


I'm happy to have been one of the selected people to represent the herp community in the interviews. My phone interview is scheduled for Monday June 9th. I believe I have all the bases covered for what I want to cover in the interview, but thought I'd ask the members here for key points and any other thoughts or concerns you would like me to bring up. It appears most of the questions will be centered around policies and regulations for "exotic and dangerous" animal ownership in Virginia. Please feel free to post here, PM, or email me.


Thank you,

David Means

dvmeans@hotmail.com

As it stands now, David, you will be the voice for the Hobbyist community.

Cheers,
Larry

Below you will find a list of questions they will ask me in the interview tomorrow. Please feel free to share your opinions and concerns.

1.How do you work with dangerous and exotic animals in Virginia?
2.What concerns, hopes or ideas do you have for policies that regulation dangerous animals in Virginia?
3.Do you have any ideas for how to achieve these hopes or address these concerns?
4.Do you have any other ideas about policies involving these animals?
5.What ideas do you have for how to enhance or coordinate policies and regulations for dangerous and exotic animals in Virginia?

Regarding the first question: Statistically speaking exotic reptiles and amphibians are not an issue. Exotic herps are far less dangerous than domesticated dogs and/or horses. See: http://www.anapsid.org/pdv-boid.html
Again, statistically speaking herps are a non-issue to the health or well-being of humans.

Given that, the rest of the questions are pointless.

Also, the terms "dangerous" and "exotic" are not mutually inclusive. Native wildlife or domesticated animals can be dangerous and the vast majority of exotic herps are harmless. The questions as they are formulated equate dangerous to exotic.

I would suggest that you follow your own pro-reptile agenda and not let the interviewer force you to be defensive, giving them the interview that they want.

Best of Luck! Thanks for your efforts!!!

Good Luck and you guys rock!!! Thanks for all of your hard work!!!

I have no idea how biased this group is...so be on the alert..and like John said, pursue your agenda and don't let them frame your answers in a way that is not correct.

leftoflarry wrote:

I have no idea how biased this group is...so be on the alert..and like John said, pursue your agenda and don't let them frame your answers in a way that is not correct.

Great words of wisdom from Mr. Larry

How did the interview go?

Mine went well, it was more or less an info gathering session.

leftoflarry wrote:

Mine went well, it was more or less an info gathering session.

Same here.

I'm glad that y'all were at least able to do that! Now the issue comes as to if they really take what y'all said and use it or make up their own version

David_Means wrote:

leftoflarry wrote:

Mine went well, it was more or less an info gathering session.

Same here.

Great news!! Hopefully they'll listen. Thank you both so much for your professional input. It is much appreciated by everyone here and beyond!

You guys rock!

So for informational purposes. This is a 3rd party objective academic organization that interviewed us. They wil give an objective opinion to the legislature in regards to this issue. Unlike last year, which was an abomination of a law, and thanks to the response from the stakeholders, the law was shut down, this time it is open to public opinion with all stakeholders having a say.... so IF there even is a legislation, it will be one in which everyone can agree on. So this is my optimist view point on this. My pessimist view point is that they will weigh opinions and choose which ever opinion might gather a politician the most votes.

Larry, Thanks for the insight.