Dangerous & Exotic Animals in Virginia, Updates and Webinar

Greetings,

We are writing with an update on the effort to identify issues and develop potential recommendations around public safety and potentially dangerous animals in Virginia. We invite you to join a Webinar with key background information on the morning of Wed. August 29th -- please see below for more information.

As many of you are aware, Governor McDonnell has asked the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) to review Virginia’s policies and regulations on dangerous and exotic animals. DGIF and other state agencies that are involved in animal regulation have asked the Institute for Environmental Negotiation at the University of Virginia to help facilitate a process for engaging multiple, diverse stakeholders in this effort.

A Workgroup is being formed to develop consensus-based recommendations around public safety and potentially dangerous animals in Virginia. The Workgroup will be comprised of a wide variety of stakeholders consisting of pet industry groups, business owners, local government organizations, state agency representatives, federal agency representatives, zoos, animal care and welfare groups, nonprofit organizations, and others. Several meetings will be held from September – November of 2012. Although a limited number of people will serve on the Workgroup, meetings will be open to the public. We will send the meeting schedule and additional information out as it is finalized. There will be several additional ways to participate in this effort, including public meetings, a survey, and a presentation next week.

A Webinar will be held with state agency representatives next Wed., August 29th outlining the effort and focusing on existing federal, state, and locality regulations and animal care standards in Virginia (see below for more information). We invite all of you to join the Webinar as well as to submit your questions about existing regulations in advance of the Webinar to animals@virginia.edu by Monday, August 27th at 5pm. Additional questions may be sent after that point and during the Webinar, and will be answered as time permits during the presentation.

The Dangerous Animals Background information Webinar will be held on Wed., August 29th from 9:30 to 11:00 AM. It can be viewed online at this link: http://128.143.138.238/launch/rtsp_audio_and_graphics.qtl. If you are not able to join the Webinar, it will be recorded and able to be viewed after the presentation on a website. We will send the website link out next week, as well as information about a follow up survey.

If you would like to continue to receive these updates, you do not need to do anything further to stay on this list. If you would prefer not to receive these updates, you can opt out by clicking "UNSUBSCRIBE" at the bottom of this email.

If you know of anyone else who should be included on this notification list, you can forward them the message using the "FORWARD" link below, or you can invite them to send us an email at animals@virginia.edu to subscribe.

Over the next few months there will be several opportunities to engage with this process, hear different perspectives, and share information. We will use this notification list to announce all of these opportunities. We will send another email in the near future with additional ways to stay engaged in the process. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us at animals@virginia.edu.


Sincerely,

David K. Whitehurst
Director, Bureau of Wildlife Resources
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

Christine Muehlman Gyovai
UVa Institute for Environmental Negotiation
animals@virginia.edu | 434-982-6464

Anyone planning on watching the webinar tomorrow?

Greetings,

We are writing with an update on the effort to identify issues and develop potential recommendations around public safety and potentially dangerous animals in Virginia—the Dangerous Animal Initiative.

A live video presentation will be held with state agency representatives tomorrow (Wednesday), August 29th outlining the effort and focusing on existing federal, state, and locality regulations and animal care standards in Virginia. We invite all of you to join the Webinar (a live video presentation), as well as to submit your questions about existing regulations in advance or during the Webinar to animals@virginia.edu. They will be answered as time permits during the presentation.

The Dangerous Animals Background information Webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 29th from 9:30 to 11:00 AM. It can be viewed online at this link: http://128.143.138.238/launch/rtsp_audio_and_graphics.qtl. If you are not able to join the Webinar, it will be recorded and able to be viewed after the presentation on the website: www.virginiaanimals.net.

PLEASE NOTE: You will need to have Quicktime installed on your computer to view the presentation at the link above. Quicktime may be installed for free at (www.apple.com/quicktime/download/).

We are seeking your input regarding public safety and potentially dangerous animals via an online survey. Please share your ideas after the presentation at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3M8FWP3
The survey will be open from Wed. Aug. 29 – Wed. Sept. 5th, and the input will be gathered and reviewed as part of the process to develop recommendations around public safety and potentially dangerous animals.

We will send another email in the near future with additional ways to stay engaged in the process. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact us at animals@virginia.edu.


Sincerely,

David K. Whitehurst
Director, Bureau of Wildlife Resources
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

Christine Muehlman Gyovai
UVa Institute for Environmental Negotiation
animals@virginia.edu | 434-982-6464

Webinar starts in 3 minutes

http://128.143.138.238/launch/rtsp_audio_and_graphics.qtl.

I was able to catch bits and pieces and the tail end of the webinar. For the most part it was a rehash of existing regulations, but nothing really new (that I heard).

Was able to email in one question that was addressed:
"It seems as if the Ohio incident sparked this activity in Virginia. If this has not been an issue in VA, why are we wasting time and money on a non-issue?"

My question was rephrased by the moderator and answered by Dave Whitehurst, who in a nutshell said that the governor wants this possible issue studied. It is my impression that Whitehurst is not thrilled about working on this project.

I wasn't able to listen to the webinar, but I'm going to try to listen to it when they release it. I don't think anyone here is thrilled about working on this because it's a waste of time.

The webinar video is up for the people that didn't see it live.

http://virginiaanimals.net/background/

Please watch it and take the online survey. Also please help get the word out about this, tell friends and family, send out email, post on Facebook, and on online forums.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3M8FWP3

So how does one go about obtaining a permit in a county that requires one to own any herps? I've looked on websites and what not and have found nothing.

Contact the county's courthouse or animal control.

Greetings All,


Thank you for your participation in the Dangerous Animal Background Information webinar on Wednesday, August 29th (with apologies for any technical difficulties you may have experienced). We have posted the recording of the webinar on the project website at www.virginiaanimals.net. On the website, you will find two powerpoints that were presented during the webinar as well as a full recording of the webinar under the "Background" tab. Please let us know if you have any difficulty accessing the recording.

We have also extended the date to participate in the survey. It will be open until Friday, Sept. 7 to gather feedback on public safety and potentially dangerous animals--that we hope you will participate in --at this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3M8FWP3.

Within the next week, we will send additional details about the Dangerous Animal Initiative and Workgroup, as well as additional ways to engage in the effort.



Sincerely,

David K. Whitehurst
Director, Bureau of Wildlife Resources
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

Greetings All,

Below please find a list of the participants in the volunteer Dangerous Animal Initiative Workgroup. This group will meet between September and November 2012 to develop consensus-based recommendations around public safety and potentially dangerous animals. The recommendations of the Workgroup will be compiled in a report, noting areas of agreement as well as non-agreement, at the end of the Workgroup process. We will post an update regarding the meetings on the website: www.virginiaanimals.net


This is also a reminder about the survey which will be open until Friday, Sept. 7 to gather feedback on public safety and potentially dangerous animals at this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3M8FWP3.

Thank you in advance for participating in the survey--the Workgroup will review the survey compilation.



We appreciate your time and feedback.

Sincerely,

David K. Whitehurst
Director, Bureau of Wildlife Resources
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries



Christine Muehlman Gyovai
UVa Institute for Environmental Negotiation
animals@virginia.edu | 434-982-6464


Dangerous Animal Initiative Workgroup members

Andrew Wyatt, US Association of Reptile Keepers (US ARK)
Chris Blalock, Sheriff, Virginia Sheriffs' Association (VSA)
Dan Kovich, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) (ex officio)
David Whitehurst, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) (ex officio)
Deborah Broughton, Animal Control Officer, Dinwiddie County
Doris Hackworth, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) (ex officio)
Doris Pruett, Animal Kingdom of Virginia
Earit Powell, Fairfax County - Animal Services Division
Eric Mogensen, Virginia Safari Park & Reston Zoological Park
James Lavender, Dr. Lavender's Animals
Jared Watts, Saving All Virginia's Exotic Species (SAVES)
Jim Andelin, Metro Richmond Zoo
Joseph Lerch, Virginia Municipal League (VML)
Julie Murphy, Virginia Department of Health (VDH) (ex officio)
Kathy Strouse, Virginia Animal Control Association (VACA)
Kelly Gottschalk, Virginia Veterinary Medical Association (VVMA)
Larry Land, Virginia Association of Counties (VACo)
Larry Mendoza, Virginia Herpetological Society (VHS)
Laura Donahue, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
Lindsay Reames, Virginia Farm Bureau (VFB)
Bambi Osborne, Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC)
Peggy Rice, American Primate Haven
Peter Brewer, Zoological Association of America (ZAA)
Robin Lentz, Mill Mountain Zoo
Robin Starr, Richmond SPCA
Scott Stahl, Stahl Exotic Animal Veterinary Services
Sharon Adams, Virginia Alliance For Animal Shelters (VAAS)
Steve Olson, Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)
Tray Adams, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, McGuire Woods
Virginia Kilmer, Virginia Federation of Humane Societies (VFHS)

Only two days left to do the survey. I hope everyone has taken the time to do the survey, if not please do so. This is your opportunity to voice your concerns and ideas about possible regulation of your exotic pets. This effects most all herps and anything considered wild/exotic/or dangerous. I do mean everything, from balls to brums, geckos to monitors, hognose to mambas, and everything in between. As you can see from the above posted list of people in the work group, the animal rights extremists and people that support their agenda will be heavily involved. Remember, they don't want us to own ANY animal and exotic are the first on their list. They think we are an easy target, let prove them wrong. Lets all come together no matter what species you keep and fight for our future, and the future of our children so they can enjoy the hobby as much as we all do.

I will be attending the 1st seminar tomorrow. Wish us all luck. I have to drive down to Richmond for a very long 6 hour meeting. If they seat us alphabetically, I will be right next to the HSUS Va Director.

Good luck. Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

It's open to the public, so I'll be there. Anyone else going?