H.R. 669 Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act.

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Well, with the push from animal rights groups--how much longer WILL we have the fur trade to "save us" how many pet owners want the fur trade to stop? That may not always be our "saving ground".

I'm sorry, but PA changed laws in the blink of an eye several years ago on hedgehogs. It was a BLOOD bath for hedgehogs found here in PA, even though they were perfectly legal. After they were banned if you were found to have a hedgehog, it was killed. I don't think they let many, if any go to out of state rescues.

Why were they banned? They'd interfer with our PORK industury, and if released would cause problems. Hello idiots- they are NOT related to HOGS, and would die in a PA winter! Stupid laws a made. Innocent lives are lost.



All of us have different opinions. Those of us who actually own, and love reptiles and know the importance of importing animals into the United States knows why this bill would be a very bad thing. I don't think I should, as a responsible reptile owner have to sit here in fear that I may not be able to keep reptiles any longer, because of a few idiots.
 
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If you only buy U.S. bred animals, it shouldn't be too much of a problem, but who knows?

I think part of the reason this is coming about now is because of the large amount a big snakes that are being found in Florida after being released by owners who could not/did not want to take care of them anymore. Wildlife officials are finding several snakes that could be considered a danger to humans. I don't know the point in punishing those of us who keep animals in cages like responsible pet owners... I personally think that people would simply release the animals to avoid their being killed.
 
Perhaps this is a stupid question, but if they are considered livestock - how come everytime I ship to the US, chinchillas are inspected by Fisheries and Wildlife? How come they need to inspect "livestock"?

I have shipped a great deal to the United States and have done the same with getting chinchillas from the United States... every time, whether they are going in or out of the United States by plane, they are always inspected by Fisheries and Wildlife, first, before they can go in or out.

I don't recall them doing that with a dog I got imported from Oregon or with other pets I have heard others got imported from the US to Canada or vice versa.

Someone care to explain how come they do it each and every time with chinchillas, if they consider them to be livestock? If someone doesn't know what Fisheries and Wildlife is, here is their website:
http://www.fws.gov/
 
Oh and before I forget to mention, one person I was to ship to in NY had to get a license to import (pay for it) through fws in order to get their chinchillas. It was like $100 or something they had to pay. I thought it was insane, but apparently some new rule they made as of October 2008, for importing chinchillas. hat is what they told her.

Do they treat all livestock like this or just chinchillas, and why is the wildlife and fisheries involved in all chinchilla import and exports, if they are livestock?

I would love an answer, because up till October of last year, I was able to ship in and all it cost was the shipping, sometimes customs, and having the FWS inspect the chins(at no cost). Now, it has become much more difficult to ship chinchillas in to the US.
 
Wildlife and Fisheries is a subdivision of the USDA.

Looks like as of Jan 2009 Furriers and Circuses are no longer exempt from inspection, here's the fee list. Anything coming and going from the U.S. will be charged now. :(

Causes an issue for those crossing the Canadian border....
 
HR699 bans All exotic not native to US!!!

i'm not too sure, but i do think this applies to hedgies & chins!!!!!!!!! this has been the talk on all online forums!!!!!

i'm coping this from a forum for sugar gliders, but help spread the word, cause this will also affect ALL OF US TOO!!!!!!

How has NO ONE been talking about the new piece of legislation about to go under consideration?!?!? HR699, if passed, will ban the selling or buying of ALL exotic pets not native to the US. This ranges from sugar gliders, to most snakes, to hamsters, to the simple beta fish! This bans them all people. Reptiles, birds, mammals, amphibians, invertebrates, and, of course, suggies. And it does not matter if the animal is captive bred. All CB and WC exotics will be illegal! Why has no one been talking about this here? This is not simply a ban on all animals being sold. HR699 will allow all legally purchased and owned animals before it to be kept by the owners, but they will be illegal to import, export, sell, buy, or transfer them over state lines. And you would never be able to get anymore if the species of animal you are after is deemed potentially harmful to the environment or ecosystem.

This is happening because of a problem that is going on right here in Florida. You see, uneducated and generally, for lack of a better word, stupid people sometimes decide to get burmese pythons thinking they can care for their size and requirements. When they, eventually and surely, get too big for them to continue caring for, they LET THEM GO!!!! How can you just let an innocent animal go?! Its beyond me. Anyway, the Everglades really agree with these animals, and they are now invading the ecosystem and competing with alligators for food.

Please! Let the legislation know that they CANNOT do this. They cannot punish all of us for the mistakes of others. We need more regulation, not total banning! Call, write, e-Mail, march. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! Stop HR669!!!

The HR669 will be taken under consideration on April 23 by 15 congressmen

For more information:
Full Explanation- http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin ... ih.txt.pdf

Pijac- http://www.pijac.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=504

State Representatives:
House- https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Congress- http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

If this gets passed, all exotic animals will never be sold again. No imports or exports, and no transporting over state lines. STOP THIS FROM BEING PASSED!!!
 
Welcome to the world of fur ranchers. We have been dealing with the AR people for years. Ranchers support legislation thru the Chinchilla Industry Council and FCUSA. There is an article this month in our FCUSA newsletter about an appointee to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. His name is Cass Sunstein and he has a track record of speaking out in favor of animal rights. Quote" animals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representative to prevent violations of current laws". Is that what you really want to happen? AR extremists would love to see even pets banned. What makes some of you think this will never pass? Even though it is unclear if it will affect the chin industry, why sit back and think it will never happen? Join some of these organizations and speak out . If you're not members of ECBC or MCBA, join so you can be aware of what is going on. If these people have their way you won't have fur ranchers around to protect you as Megan said. I'm sure many fur ranchers in the UK thought the same things and look what happened there.
 
A blanket ban on "non-native species" wouldn't fix the issue, but as others have said, this has been brought up many times before. It appears to be something to please some constituents, lobbyists, money donars, whatever.

Doesn't this seem more like a state's rights issue? It's not like there's one animal that's destroying the entire country, it's in isolated areas, correct? So why not let the states manage their own wildlife?

I am a pet person but I have no problem with pelting or ranching or anything. We should be making legislation focused on punishing those who are already abusing animals right now, not some potential wildlife degredation in the future. When leases are up at my apartment complex, people just dump their animals. You see so many dogs and cats roaming around, it's really sad. Last year someone put a live hamster, INSIDE his cage, in the dumpster and left it. But instead, extreme AR people twist that into saying that nobody should have pets at all.. and we have this legislation again. It's a case of letting some cruel people ruin it for the rest of us. What are we, kindergarteners? There's a better solution than that.

Additionally, the things posted about the ban on hedghogs in PA and the border crossing fees are so ridiculous it's disgusting.

Can anyone clarify what exactly chinchillas are classified as? I'm honestly confused about whether they are livestock or not. Thanks.
 
I don't know about anyone else but we file a farm return on our taxes, so ours are considered livestock. I can't tell you what they would be classified if they are strictly pets. This might vary from state to state. I do know if you just sit back and think things take care of themselves, they don't.
 
im confused, why a few months ago when i posted this did everyone act like it didnt matter & now it does? What have i missed that now makes it much more of importance? Perhaps i have missed a bigger issue?

Back then it did mainly look like something that was something more to worry about for reptile people, but it had always been said they would work towards other animals, such as furry ones.

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=753

I think chinchillas as livestock is going to count for people with 100+ however i could be wrong, but id think others may be counted as pet owners & or just hobby breeders.
 
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Megan said:
All of us have different opinions. Those of us who actually own, and love reptiles and know the importance of importing animals into the United States knows why this bill would be a very bad thing. I don't think I should, as a responsible reptile owner have to sit here in fear that I may not be able to keep reptiles any longer, because of a few idiots.
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I also couldnt agree more. WE are being punished for the stupid people that dont know a right way to find their pet a home, not just tossing it outside & calling it a day.

A few bad eggs spoil the WHOLE bunch! I would be SO sad without my pets, furry OR scaled! And i'd REALLY like to widen my scaled category a little!;)
 
The reason the law may be passed now may not be the same 5-10 yrs from now. When a different person interprets it or they stretch the meaning of the wording to the far extremes. I am sick of it and it needs to stop somewhere.
 
Midwest Exotics said:
im confused, why a few months ago when i posted this did everyone act like it didnt matter & now it does? What have i missed that now makes it much more of importance? Perhaps i have missed a bigger issue?
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I don't read that section of the forum often so missed it myself, and I'm sure this is the case for some. I don't know about the states you all live in, but here in Washington they have really been pushing regulations on breeders for at least the past 4 yrs, and have not played nice. A lot of it was down right sneaky. Some say great about time, but in truth the regulations pushed would do away with the GOOD hobby breeders, because it would just be to expensive. At first it was anyone with 12 breeding pairs, and then anyone owning more than 6 birds, regardless if you bred or not. Their goal (AR people) wanted to start here, and then make Washington a model state to push it on elsewhere. Mainly because of one bad breeder, which some say was a scape goat and not as bad as claimed. Who knows, but like I said before regardless if you have birds,chins, horses etc I think we do need to be there for one another. Once they do away with one species, I'm sure they will begin on another.
I'd rather be Chicken Little screaming the sky is falling, the sky is falling, then look up and ask "What happened?"
 
I think we all need to click on the link that rcr provided and let them know how we feel. I can understand the government wanting to punish some people for owning and later letting go some animals which upset the eco system as well as can become potentially dangerous. But we can't let them punish everybody.

Write your congressman, or email them. But let your voices be heard
 
Twilight Chinchillas said:
I don't read that section of the forum often so missed it myself, and I'm sure this is the case for some. I don't know about the states you all live in, but here in Washington they have really been pushing regulations on breeders for at least the past 4 yrs, and have not played nice. A lot of it was down right sneaky. Some say great about time, but in truth the regulations pushed would do away with the GOOD hobby breeders, because it would just be to expensive. At first it was anyone with 12 breeding pairs, and then anyone owning more than 6 birds, regardless if you bred or not. Their goal (AR people) wanted to start here, and then make Washington a model state to push it on elsewhere. Mainly because of one bad breeder, which some say was a scape goat and not as bad as claimed. Who knows, but like I said before regardless if you have birds,chins, horses etc I think we do need to be there for one another. Once they do away with one species, I'm sure they will begin on another.
I'd rather be Chicken Little screaming the sky is falling, the sky is falling, then look up and ask "What happened?"
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I couldn't have said it better myself. :)
It really doesn't matter if it pertains to our chinnies just yet. If we don't make a stand now, it eventually will. Eventually we won't be able to own any animals.
 
so, I have clicked on the link given by rcr and followed the instructions, as did a couple of my friends....even as far as to ask for Chinchilla groups of facebook to send out messages to the group members to help out....but i'm just wondering which animals specifically ARE affected?
 
From what I've read, here and else where, it seems to cover everything, unless specifically listed. If not on the approved list breeding and sales will be banned. Horses and cattle and pigs are also livestock, but they seem to be meantioned as being on the ok list. Chins may be livestock, but I haven't heard of them being on the approved list yet. And I love my hedgies, and would hate to not be able to get more, if I wanted.
 
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