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S. 373, A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to include constrictor snakes of the species Python genera as an injurious animal (32 comments ↓ | 5 wiki edits)
S. 373 would amend title 18, United States Code, to include constrictor snakes of the species Python genera as an injurious animal.
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Visitor Comments
Doug
February 8, 2009, 5:06pm (report abuse)This is incredibly moronic. Every species of python is not an injurious animal. I'm sure if you looked at statistics I would be willing to bet my entire reptile collection that you will find more injured from attacks from domesticated dogs and cats in the US than any species of non-venomous reptile. Not only that but has it been considered how this will effect the economy? Python trade in the US is HUGE, especially in ball pythons, which are harmless, and also the smallest species of python which hardly ever reach up to six feet in length. Not only that but there are very few places in the US here these animals can sustain themselves for long periods of time. A Python could not survive a winter in most of our states. There are only a few areas in the southern states where a population could thrive. Leave this up to the states to decide instead of trampling on the rights of ever reptile lover all over the country. If I released my animals right now...they would DIE!
Bethany
April 23, 2009, 3:43pm (report abuse)This is a problem with only one species, in only one area.
Burmese Pythons in Florida.
There is no need to ban the entire genus python nationwide to solve this problem.
Montana, Maine, Colorado, Wyoming, Michigan, etc etc etc are under no threat of invasion from Burms. These snakes simply cannot survive in any climate outside of Florida, and cannot hibernate like native species.
This needs to be focused on Burms, and kept in Florida legislation.
Concernedhypocrite
July 13, 2009, 3:34pm (report abuse)Large dogs kill plenty of people each year. Almost any large breed is capable of seriously injuring or killing a human. Lets BAN THEM ALL!
Pearl
August 7, 2009, 3:40am (report abuse)I Think That they should be BANNED! People cannot bring these exotic snakes to the U.S! If one of these were to EVER get out, and hurt ANY child! and then a stupid animal activist tells me this snake's life is more important than my baby's life. Then I would hold them ALL responsible for any deaths to anyone but including children! And they don't have to be,venomous.Snakes can strangle and squeeze someone's last breath out. So why put other people in danger? So Yes to S.373. Another thing, if people want these animals so much,then go live in their environments.
L.D.
December 2, 2009, 5:29pm (report abuse)It truly is unfortunate that people have been harmed by these animals. And it’s something that could've been avoided if proper regulations were set in place. Like requiring permits for such large species. And if current owners of large pythons truly love their animals, they shouldn't mind going through that process. But there are many species of pythons that are not dangerous and are actually very pleasant to own, even for children. The point is, this ban is very unreasonable and the majority of good reptile owners should not suffer for the negligence of a few others. A middle ground has to be established. There are too many people involved and dedicated to the reptile trade and human safety should never be compromised. I hope this ban does not get approved. But I do hope for more reasonable regulations, for the sake of my reptilian pets and for my children’s safety.
-Concerned Father and Reptile Owner
Kyle
December 3, 2009, 10:48am (report abuse)This bill is ridiculous. Sure the larger snakes can be dangerous but that's considering they get into the wrong hands of people who do not understand how to take care of them and are inconsiderate enough to relase their animals into the wild. Maybe a screening of people looking to purchase them and a permit would be logical, but to ban everything? That's great, let's destroy our entire industry we've built, our economy would be on an even worse spiral because a huge chunk of the pet industry would be negated. Pearl, all snakes can't harm a child, and if you don't like them don't keep them around your child! Most snakes that get out die within the year because they can't maintain a life in our states. Don't be so quick to judge us because of the animals we keep, how would you like something you hold dear ripped away from you because of a few bad apples ruining what you loved... that's not fair to the thousands of people who own and love these animals.
Davey
December 4, 2009, 10:35am (report abuse)The point is...There ARE already state laws in place requlating these animals. The just need to be enforced. You need permits in Florida to own a Burmese Python...a permit not easily obtained.
The study is tainted to skew the facts. The number of snakes in FL is highly over exaggerated. They are only surviving far south of Miami an numbers are extremely low.
The Publc Library of Science conducted its own study disproving the potential range expansion of pythons.
More government smoke and mirrors folks.
I have over 40 years experience with reptiles and the government wants to ban ALL 30 plus python species! Some only get 3-4' long.
They are not intelligent enough to segregate the potentially dangerous ones from the harmless ones.
For those who know nothing about reptiles...please refrain from adding your uneducated viewpoints...that's what Washington is for.
Jody
December 4, 2009, 11:21am (report abuse)In regards to people wanting them banned because they are afraid someone may get hurt. I have a question should we band cats and dogs? horses? what about cars or other vehicles they kill too, hmm what about all the other countless harmful things that are in this world. Please lets be realistic about this and not dramatize the situation into some hollywood movie. This bill will do more harm then good, it certainly will not help remove the python population in Florida.
Rattlesnake
December 8, 2009, 11:50am (report abuse)They want my Python they got to get thru me. Goverment want to put the nose where it's not needed the only reason ppl get hurt by pythons is cuz they drop there gurd after awhile ppl need to keep in mind yea there kool pets that get big and yea they can kill but last i looked the number of deaths due to cars is far more greater yea there we go lets ban cars and trucks and SUV's supid idea well so is the ban on pythons. and one ? for all you as a US citizen when we going to get are rights back i mean takeing are right to chosse the pets we want thats bout as F'd up as trying to take are guns.
Wes Harvey
December 9, 2009, 5:03pm (report abuse)This bill is complete nonsense and will only hurt the economy even more. If this bill passes it will be a mockery of our government system and free country . This is truly a case of Big Brother Gone bad. This whole bill is based on Global warming and we all know what a farce that turned out to be. So any bill that uses that for it's base argument should be tossed in the trash and never brought up again.
EDUCATE YOURSELF
December 9, 2009, 6:46pm (report abuse)pearl, you are a reactionary idiot. do you own a dog? if YOU love it so much why don't you go live with a pack of wolves. do you own a cat? if YOU love it so much, why don't you go live with a lion pride? do you own fish? why don't YOU go live in the ocean. do you love children? why don't YOU go live in a maternity ward? you are a stupid stupid person who can only see what you like and can only share the world with people who fit in your narrow view of what is "normal". i fear for any young children under your care who may some day want to explore something other than baseball or ballet. you are a dull soul crushing ogre.
To pearl
December 10, 2009, 12:02pm (report abuse)Obviously you are not educated on this bill and how it will effect millions of Americans. Do you realize it will instantly take away millions of jobs and leave families in ruin. Do you want to be responsible for that? Do you want to be responsible for children starving because their parents cannot afford food because their jobs were taken away by ignorance? If you don't like snakes that's fine, but a lot of people do. This is America where we are supposed to be free and have rights. It is our right to own snakes, just as it is your right to own whatever pets you own. Your comment is based on ignorance. Maybe you should do some research and then you will realize it is not possible for boa constrictors to invade all of the US and there are no reported cases of boa constrictors eating humans. Ball pythons are also harmless, did you notice they sell them in local pet stores. People are given very biased views of snakes by the media, and it's all based on fear and ignorance.
Over my dead body
December 10, 2009, 12:29pm (report abuse)For some of us, our snakes mean as much as dogs do to dog lovers. How would you feel if someone told you that you could no longer keep your pet that you love because they pose an unrealistic threat. My ball pythons are not endangering anyone. The people that have the power to dictate how we live our lives will not stop with this ban. They enjoy throwing their weight around and will soon target another group of animal lovers.
carr65
December 10, 2009, 3:08pm (report abuse)the problem is the fact that people who do not know how to cage or properly care for snakes get large snakes and then the snakes are abused period .a permit law should be enforced and even have training classes to teach people how to properly cage,handle and care for the snakes ,the fee for these classes should be included in getting a permit and be made mandatory period .those of us who know how to properly cage ,handle and care for these snakes are being punished because of the people that are abusing the snakes . idiots that go and buy a large snake are getting them to give them an ego boost they walk around outside with a big snake around their necks saying look at me look at what i have . the real snake keepers and breeders do not abuse the snakes like that instead we/they properly cage and handle the snakes and never walk out in public like that ,instead we/they do educational programs to educate people that snakes are not hell bent on hurting or killing humans .
carr65
December 10, 2009, 3:12pm (report abuse)IF STEVE IRWIN (THE CROC HUNTER) was alive today he would be fighting the stupid idiotic ban tooth and nail . now the snake breeders need to step up along with the rest of the reptile community and demand that this ban not be passed period . its time for the reptile nation to join together and fight this as a group and be united like never before.
SDReptiles
December 10, 2009, 11:29pm (report abuse)The Steve Irwin comment. Im not so sure he would. I know he did a lot for reptiles. But would he really get his hands dirty with something like this. Yeah he was a great person, But he was also a tv star. There are other tv stars out there. What have they done to help with this nothing. This bill is a bunch of you know what. 3 billion dollars a year. Thousands of lost jobs, So much for job creation.
C. adamanteus
December 11, 2009, 12:19am (report abuse)you are an idiot pearl and people like you make me laugh and sick to my stomach at the same time.
listen closely...THERE IS A REQUIRED PERMIT FOR OWNING BURMESE! its been in effect since january 1st 2008 and it incudes the big 3 pythons (african rocks, burmese and reticulated), the nile monitor and the green andaconda. since this permit has gone in effect(which i thought was necessary since i was 13) i have not seen ONE of these animales for sale in a pet store (of course i live in north florida not south or central) the point is that they solved the problem. no one is going to go through the trouble of all the paperwork and the annual $100 fee for an impulse buy.
did it get rid of the pythons in the everglades? of course not, BUT NEITHER WILL THIS BAN!
think about it like this: this will ban snakes like the anthill python, the worlds smallest snake. My pinky finger is bigger than full-grown anthill pythons!!!
C. adamanteus
December 11, 2009, 12:23am (report abuse)also, if this passes i will drive to the everglades and release my boas and pythons just in spite of dumb*ss PETA and the humane society of the united states (they have been against reptiles in captivity for years)
Dirtball Herper
December 12, 2009, 1:31pm (report abuse)First, make no mistake about this ban, it is an attempt to take away another freedom. Look at the people who are behind this, the Humane society and other animal rights groups. These groups have influence over liberal democrat legislators. Animal rights groups wish to outlaw all types of animal ownership. Liberals are all to happy to go along with this. I have tried to stay away from politics all my live, but now I am forced to take notice and defend my rights. Elections have consequences, I think my votes last year brought the chickens home to roost. I will never again take my freedoms for granted. We must pay attention to what is going on with our elected officials. I laughed when a friend told me years ago, " When they outlaw snakes, only outlaws will have snakes" Looks like I'm going from honest citizen to a life of crime. NOTE TO SELF: When our country collapses, eat the liberals first.
watch-dog
December 14, 2009, 7:20pm (report abuse)What a great idea!! Lets pass all the laws we can as to build the largest most secure wall around our population, not taking any risk. Then we can feel really secure in that nice prison! Wait, I don't mean we, I mean who ever supports S 373, because I will get the F*** out of that forsaken sh** hole and move to a country that still believes in Freedom. And when that prison gets sick, this physician will be practicing somewhere else ;-)
Anthony wrenn
December 16, 2009, 8:07pm (report abuse)Pythons come in all sizes! A Dwaf python (anthill) gets no bigger than 28 inches and no bigger than a highlighter marker. Does this need to be banned to before it "CONSTRICTS" someone? I understand gigantic ones being restricted or needing permits but everything smaller is just someone's way of opening the doors to banning all snakes.
Lee
January 9, 2010, 1:40am (report abuse)This comment is for Pearl. You should be more worried about other things killing your baby! On average there are 0.4 people killed a year by constrictor snakes. That's 2 people every 5 years. On average there are 14 deaths a year caused by dog attacks. So your baby is 35 times more likely to dye from a dog attack than a constrictor snake! If you want to have that attitude, then we shouldn't worry about constrictors and we should ban horses. Horses account for 214 human death a year. You are 535 times more likely to dye from a horse. But if you really want to talk about numbers and death than lets drop all this bull about animals and ban motor vehicles. There are 48,411 deaths a year from vehicles. Again, your baby is 121,027.5 times more likely to die in a vehicle than by a constrictor. Lets continue, you are 327.5 times more likely to dye from faulty wiring in a home appliance. So lets worry about what really matters! URL to this info: http://www.anapsid.org/pdv-boid.html
Lee
January 9, 2010, 2:18am (report abuse)I wanted to add to my previous comment. As of July 2008, US human population was 304,059,724. On average 2 people dye from constrictors every 5 years. So your chances of dying from a constrictor are 1 in 760,149,310. That means you are 42 times more likely to win the lottery. Or you are just as likely to win the lottery 42 times in 1 year as you are to dye from a constrictor.
brandon
January 12, 2010, 11:06am (report abuse)passing this bill is going to have the same general effects as prohibition. the crime rates will increase, the jails will fill and many people will lose their jobs. think of it like this, the few attacks their have been are nothing compared to the amount of "domestic" dogs. If a pitbull, rotweiler or german shepard attack it has clearly been provoked, they will punish that animal not the entire species. it should be the same way with our pythons. dont let a country suffer due to a few peoples lack of responsibility
Nick
January 31, 2010, 4:32pm (report abuse)Librals are iust trying to take away are rights.It is just like guns, restrict thhings slowly by slowly taking things away first constricters, then large lizards, ect.Like a frog that sits in a pot of water slowly being heated dosent know the tempeture but it is geting warmer or in our case it is being more and more restricted slowly over time untill our hobby is gone as well as our jobs. Obama says jobs are our No.1 foucus is 2010. Hate to tell you Obama but if you help pass this bill along with the rest of your party you anit helping.
ROB nyc
February 10, 2010, 5:04pm (report abuse)i see how a few people are saying how they should ban some snakes. but dogs, cats, cars, water, fire, homes, electricity, people, & more. can hurt or kill people should we ban everything based on a could ?
almost everything can hurt or even kill people but we cant ban cars, fire, homes, foods, water, electricity, on a could & some people would not want their dogs, or cats, birds, to be ban on a could either.there are more deaths by home related deaths then any non venomous snake every 6 mouths not even a year in the pass 30 year only a hand few of people died by none venomous snakes how many people die by car every year? also more kids get hurt or kill in the streets & in schools also at home then by any snake in the planet
i am for people keeping any pet they want as long as they know how to take care of it & keep their pets safe also there self & other people if you cant do that you should not keep any type of animal
kejl
February 12, 2010, 9:31am (report abuse)C. adamanteus, you are just as bad as Pearl. We don't need comments like yours to further our cause. It the irresponsible people like you that started this problem in the first place.
Kathy Schmidt
February 23, 2010, 12:20am (report abuse)Pythons and venomous snake imported to America are a clear and present danger to people, children and family pets. Destruction by a non-native Burmese Pythons to the Florida, Everglades is in the Billions. A study in N. Carolina proved Burmese Python can thrive in the cold and snow. If not stopped they will infest USA all the way to California. Pythons are wild predatory animals. On Utube many Snake Charmers post my Python bit or attacked me. Pythons and non-native venomous snake should be in Zoo's and Serpentariums to make anti-venom. Pythons are Lethal Killers, I hope snake lovers wake up and realize our children and peoples safety comes first. Three Children and a 2 year old baby brutally killed by crushing suffocation. Missing children thought abducted in Florida are being investigated they may have been killed by Pythons. This is the tip of the Ice Berg. Snake sellers-owners deny liability and must be held liable and pay damages for lost loved ones and damage to the our ecosystem.
Kathy Schmidt
February 23, 2010, 12:49am (report abuse)Commercial Snake Sellers posting here are just a bad as their snakes when it comes to slippery. They don't tell people South Florida is infested with 250,000 Burmese Pythons and now they have Pythons in Key Largo. Snake Dealers are as slippery as the snakes they sell and in Florida there an out of control industry. The give false stats and claim their a 2 billion dollar industry. They don't tell you it will take 10 Billion and more to restore the Everglades. Their stats and deaths rates and attacks by Pythons are fabricated with low numbers. On Youtube Snake-Merchants are saying there's nothing to worry about and we have had just a baby, a few children and seniors die painful suffocating death by constriction. Every week local Florida Police-Fire departments have to deal with dangerous pythons that got loose. Snake-Merchants have pythons families have children but snake people claim dogs or worse. Pythons lay 100 eggs at a time and hide in ponds, creeks and canals were children play.
wow
March 4, 2010, 1:16am (report abuse)Kathy Schmidt, where are you getting your information because I did extensive searches and I think your info is invalid. (i.e. the destruction of the everglades resulting from pythons being in the billions). I couldn't find this information so if you post stats you should back them up. On a further note, you speak about the deaths of children being the result from pythons, well what about the deaths that could be attributed to alligators. Maybe they should kill off all the alligators in florida so you and your children will be safe. God, then you talk about snake sellers being held liable and paying damages for lost loved ones and our ecosystem. Well if you do that then you better go ahead and do it to the automobile industry for giving the people a product that pollutes our atmosphere and causes tons of people to tragically die. Look at dog breeds, they are non native, maybe we should go ahead and ban them too.
jgulizia
(logged-in user) April 10, 2010, 11:42am (report abuse)Pearl and L.D are so ignorant it actually discust me. Just because a snake ate a baby doesn't mean you ban people from owning the snake ! Babies die in care accidents are you going to ban cars ? dogs and cats kill babies are you going to ban them ? Manors shake babies amd kill them are you going to ban nanies ? The truth is if we don't like something we can always find reasons to SLANDER it !!! But this is America where we pride our selves on not forcing our will on other people! If you wanna save lives ban cigeretes or alcohol or war ! Just because a snake gets out doesn't mean it can kill you. I take my snake out all the time and I am fine. Alot of things can happen; your microwave can give you cancer, your boat can sink, your priest can molest your child so CANS aren't a good way of justifing taking away other peoples property! I already HAVE to buy health care now I have to give up rocky the rocky python ? Does any one else have a funny feeling like we are not in Kansas any more?
Pete Willis9
June 16, 2010, 3:54am (report abuse)For the Steve Irwin fans, a little truth.
In Australia, Steve Irwin actively campaigned against the rights of private reptile keepers and fought to retain bans on keeping that were in force through the 1980's and 1990's.
Before Irwin made it big in the USA, Australia's snakeman Raymond Hoser took on the fight and through publication of the Smuggled books overturned the bans on private ownership of reptiles.
What the USA really needs is someone like Raymond Hoser to take on the government's stupid ideas and win, like he did in Australia.
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