http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:soxfox&section=today deviantART RSS for by:soxfox en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:00:06 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://soxfox.deviantart.com/journal/28707096/ http://soxfox.deviantart.com/journal/28707096/ Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:20:16 PST [link]). This is a tragic incident, however, this man lived in Florida, where you are required to have a permit to own a large python. This permit also means having the snake's enclosure inspected by officials to make sure it's escape proof; this man had no permit, nor the proper caging for such a large animal. It's largely agreed that this man was the only person to blame for this incident.

The government is trying to pass this bill under the ideology that these animals are too dangerious to keep as pets (termed "injurious" animals). Here are some statistics on annual deaths caused by animals according to [link] (sources provided on the site).



Human Deaths Caused By Animals

Animal Type
Per Year

Horses1
219

Dogs2
14

Reticulated pythons3
0.3

Burmese pythons3
0.1

Other pythons3
0.0

Boa constrictors3
0.0

Other boas4
0.0



Looking at these numbers, it's pretty easy to see that large snakes are the least of our worries. There are plenty of legal things out there that kill much more a year than any animal-related deaths combined: [link]


Tobacco
435,0001

Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity
365,0001

Alcohol
85,000 1

Microbial Agents
75,0001

Toxic Agents
55,0001

Motor Vehicle Crashes
26,3471

Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs
32,0002

Suicide
30,6223

Incidents Involving Firearms
29,0001

Homicide
20,3084

Sexual Behaviors
20,0001

All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect
17,0001, 5

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin
7,6006



Even if you don't own a large snake, or any reptiles at all, please help us to stop this ludicrous bill from passing. We responsible snake owners shouldn't have to pay the price for other's crimes or mishaps. Below is a summary of the S373 python ban (taken from [link] forums) and a link to HR2811 ban text here: [link]

"USARK (United States Association of Reptile Keepers)

Bulletin
Posted by Bw Smith

S373 aka ‘The Python Ban’ will receive a Hearing before the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee Chaired by Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on December 3, 2009. The bill sponsor is Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL). If passed as written it would Ban all snakes in the family Pythonidae, placing them on the Injurious Wildlife List of the Lacey Act. That is ALL 40 species of pythons! This action would stop all import, export and interstate transport. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has taken steps to lobby Senator Nelson to add Boa Constrictor to the bill as well. HSUS has publicly called for an end of reptile ownership nationwide for years.

This will NOT be a full and fair hearing on this issue. As we understand it right now there will be eight bills heard by the committee with only one witness to testify on all eight. USARK does not anticipate that there will be additional witnesses called. This seems to be an effort to ram through as many bills as possible in as short a time as possible.

USARK is opposed to legislating any animals on to the Injurious Wildlife List of the Lacey Act. This should be a science and policy driven debate. As it stands now the science is being “cherry picked” to support political expediency. An independent group of scientists called the USGS study being used by HSUS and others to justify a ban, “unscientific”.

USARK is providing the best information available on this issue. We realize that these are scary times and we ask that everyone in the community come together to fight this battle. There is Strength in Numbers... Protect... ]]> ~soxfox