Support new captive wildlife regulations
January 29th, 2007 by admin
New captive wildlife regulations to be voted on at the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s meeting next week (February 7-8) in Destin have been the subject of several media stories in recent days.
Most notably, the proposed regulations will make it more complicated and expensive to purchase several species of exotic reptiles, such as the Burmese python, Green anaconda and the Nile monitor. Owners of these animals will be required to get a state permit and have a veterinarian insert a microchip into the animal (to help identify the animal in case of escape). Cages holding the reptiles would also have to meet minimum requirements and would be open to inspection by wildlife officers.
Although the proposed regulations are far from perfect (for example, ARFF had asked the Commission to add the Green iguana to the list of newly regulated reptiles), they will make an impact in discouraging impulse purchases of these reptiles. The regulations would hopefully cut down on the number of former “pets” who are abandoned to suffer in a potentially hostile environment.
Read more about the proposed changes here: http://myfwc.com/commission/2007/Feb07/index.html
Please contact the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and urge them to approve the proposed regulations.
E-mail comments to the Commissioners: Commissioners@MyFWC.com.