ACTION ALERT - POLITICS/ANIMAL & ECOSYSTEM WELFARE
28 April 2008
Please cross-post and email to co-workers, friends and family
Zooh Corner Rabbit Rescue ACTION ALERT
Friends in the SG community: Please take this opportunity to comment
to the US Fish & Wildlife Service as to why they should pursue legislation to
prohibit the importation and interstate trade of pythons, boa
constrictors, and anacondas as pets. Both rabbits and the snakes are at risk of injury and death, and the ecosystem wherever non-native animals are shipped can be negatively compromised.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has requested comments on a notice of
inquiry, the first step in a process that could ultimately prohibit
importation and interstate trade of pythons, boa constrictors, and
anacondas as pets. It is important that they hear from individuals and
organizations concerned about the welfare of the animals and the devastating
impacts these snakes can have on local ecosystems.
Please act right away-the deadline for public comment is Wednesday, April
30, 2008.
TAKE ACTION
Read more and let your comments be known on the US regulations.gov site
(Note that your comments and identifying information will be posted online
at regulations.gov.)
For more information: HSUS
Zooh Corner's comments:
We are Zooh Corner Rabbit Rescue, Inc., a 501c3 public charity that
rescues rabbits, advocates for them, and educates the public about
domestic rabbit needs, We urge you to pursue legislation to prohibit
importation and interstate trade of pythons, boa constrictors, and
anacondas as pets. Baby and small adult domestic rabbits are often
purchased to feed to these snakes as live prey.
This practice should be stopped for the sake of all live animals
subjected to this un-natural, unfair, unethical display of cruelty, which
is un-necessary for the health of the snakes and can in fact be damaging
or deadly to them as well. Some defend this practice as "natural" but
there is nothing natural about it. The prey animal has no possibility of
escape as s/he would in a natural situation and there is a distinct
possibility that the snake will be injured or killed by live prey. This happens with great frequency.
**Because of consideration of both the prey and predator species, most
veterinarians recommend against the feeding of live prey for ethical
reasons. Rescuers and raisers of large snakes also recommend against this practice.
Like rabbits, snakes have complex needs that most pet owners are not
prepared or qualified to provide for. The statistics from nationwide
rescues and shelters prove well that once people are over the novelty of a
new pet--or if the pet becomes too difficult to care for, ill and in need
of expensive vet bill, and so on--owners will abandon it, either at a
local shelter (and we all know that shelters are already overwhelmed with
unwanted animals), or they will dump a pet "in the wild," where it cannot
fend for itself; or, as in the case of pythons, boa constrictors, and
anacondas. where they reek havoc on the local wildlife and destroy the
ecological balance.
Thank you for being concerned about this issue.
Signed......
For more information about live rabbits being fed to snakes visit
(another rescue) the RabbitWise anti-cruelty page.
28 April 2008
Please cross-post and email to co-workers, friends and family
Zooh Corner Rabbit Rescue ACTION ALERT
Friends in the SG community: Please take this opportunity to comment
to the US Fish & Wildlife Service as to why they should pursue legislation to
prohibit the importation and interstate trade of pythons, boa
constrictors, and anacondas as pets. Both rabbits and the snakes are at risk of injury and death, and the ecosystem wherever non-native animals are shipped can be negatively compromised.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has requested comments on a notice of
inquiry, the first step in a process that could ultimately prohibit
importation and interstate trade of pythons, boa constrictors, and
anacondas as pets. It is important that they hear from individuals and
organizations concerned about the welfare of the animals and the devastating
impacts these snakes can have on local ecosystems.
Please act right away-the deadline for public comment is Wednesday, April
30, 2008.
TAKE ACTION
Read more and let your comments be known on the US regulations.gov site
(Note that your comments and identifying information will be posted online
at regulations.gov.)
For more information: HSUS
Zooh Corner's comments:
We are Zooh Corner Rabbit Rescue, Inc., a 501c3 public charity that
rescues rabbits, advocates for them, and educates the public about
domestic rabbit needs, We urge you to pursue legislation to prohibit
importation and interstate trade of pythons, boa constrictors, and
anacondas as pets. Baby and small adult domestic rabbits are often
purchased to feed to these snakes as live prey.
This practice should be stopped for the sake of all live animals
subjected to this un-natural, unfair, unethical display of cruelty, which
is un-necessary for the health of the snakes and can in fact be damaging
or deadly to them as well. Some defend this practice as "natural" but
there is nothing natural about it. The prey animal has no possibility of
escape as s/he would in a natural situation and there is a distinct
possibility that the snake will be injured or killed by live prey. This happens with great frequency.
**Because of consideration of both the prey and predator species, most
veterinarians recommend against the feeding of live prey for ethical
reasons. Rescuers and raisers of large snakes also recommend against this practice.
Like rabbits, snakes have complex needs that most pet owners are not
prepared or qualified to provide for. The statistics from nationwide
rescues and shelters prove well that once people are over the novelty of a
new pet--or if the pet becomes too difficult to care for, ill and in need
of expensive vet bill, and so on--owners will abandon it, either at a
local shelter (and we all know that shelters are already overwhelmed with
unwanted animals), or they will dump a pet "in the wild," where it cannot
fend for itself; or, as in the case of pythons, boa constrictors, and
anacondas. where they reek havoc on the local wildlife and destroy the
ecological balance.
Thank you for being concerned about this issue.
Signed......
For more information about live rabbits being fed to snakes visit
(another rescue) the RabbitWise anti-cruelty page.
Agreed, too comfortable here, and too many folks poised for indignation. Flying off the handle seems to be the national pastime.