Vagans/Wandering Garters

[Loren]

Yeah, I'd like to see the day that the petstore employees not only know what they are talking about, but refuse to sell herps to unknowledgeable/idiot customers. As I think you touched on earlier, law breaking and unknowledgeable keepers are the fuel that Peta loves to use to the maximum.

[Stefan-A]

Now this may seem extreme to some, and perhaps impossible to carry out, but I think all herp possessions should be licensed just like a dog. With the license would come mandatory caging and care requirements for the species in mind.

I find it reasonable, but as you say, impossible to carry out. Too many animals to keep track of, too many species and subspecies to take into consideration, too many people who are unwilling to get that license, when all they need to do, is to keep quiet. To keep this short, I see no reason why anybody except a few very serious commercial breeders would get licensed, it would be a law that's impossible to enforce and quite possibly impossible to follow. Then there's the thing about caging and care requirements. Who'll be making the requirements? Someone who'll allow conditions below the absolute minimum, or one that makes completely ludicrous demands that will make it impossible for anybody who isn't a vet or a scientist to keep them? The more specific you make a law, the bigger the risk is, that you'll get a compromise that doesn't benefit the animal, or an extreme solution that's as good as a ban. Every time somebody makes a stricter law, it mostly punishes those that have not done and would not do anything wrong.

Incidentally, I recently heard about a law in another country, that says that dogs and cats can't be left unsupervised for more than 6 hours (a typical work day is 8). The person who told me about it, is a real fanatic (also a gigantic hypocrite) when it comes to animal welfare and she got upset when I asked her why not 5 hours or 7, and when I wondered what that number was based on, she declared that she doesn't care what it's based on. Is that the kind of person you'd want making the decisions?

My reason for supporting this is simple and perhaps a bit harsh: A lot of people want to have a herp as a pet (this goes for any pet actually). Every time I visit my pet store of choice (to buy feeders or sell them; I breed rats and mice...) I can't count how many customers I see, who really, REALLY should not be allowed to own a pet. I am not attacking those who take the time and money to invest in the proper upkeep and education regarding their acquired pet. I am referring to the ignorant and cheap individuals who want to shut their kid up, buy them an animal, and spend the bare bare minimum on a set-up, only to offer them up for adoption or set them loose when they get too big, eat too much, or just aren't cute anymore. If you really have the passion for the hobby, you would make the investment. Those with the superficial approach probably wouldn't get the license, and therefore the animal, and that animal would then be spared a possibly horrible life! Some people should not have animals as pets... For that matter, some people shouldn't have kids. Most everyone can breed; not everyone is a good parent. The same applies to keeping animals.

I think the responsibility in this case should be on the pet store. I like to brag about my local pet store, it recently received an award for good business ethics. It won't even sell a goldfish without asking you a few questions about your aquarium and what's in it and they have refused to sell to people I know, because they were going to mix species with different requirements on water hardness. They really force pet owners/buyers to educate themselves before they'll be able to buy any animals. But how would you go about making a store change the way they do business? That's something I don't have any good answers to. Education of the owners and clerks? Education of the public, so that they'll understand what they should demand of the pet stores? Make it illegal to sell an animal without providing the buyer with at least a basic care sheet? The parents obviously have a responsibility, too, but they're distracted by their whining kids and the pet stores do function as a hub.

Of course there's the matter of what to do with the animals when the owners don't want them any longer for whatever reason. The shelters obviously need more resources. Not much else that can be done.

[Steven@HumboldtHerps]

Yeah, all the regulation would create a cluster-(you-know-what). And imagine the chaos of trying to figure every state's different laws!