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USARK Enjoys Coming Out Party at Daytona
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by MoccasinMan on August 26, 2008
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In the wake of a meeting of many of the top leaders from the reptile industry in Chicago back in April, an industry advocate and leader has emerged; the United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK). The reptile industry now has a voice and the tools to effectively represent the interest of all those interested in maintaining the right to own and trade in reptiles. The summer has been spent putting together the infrastructure of the corporation, electing officers apppointing a Board of Directors, building a website and creating a positive image for USARK. We are now ready to meet the public. SHHS is the first forum that we are making the announcement in because the organization we modeled USARK from (NCARK) has received great support from SHHS members and we feel a strong connection and loyalty to this very professional group.
Mission:
The US Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK) is a science and education based advocacy for the responsible private ownership of, and trade in reptiles. We endorse caging standards, sound husbandry, escape prevention protocols, and an integrated approach to vital conservation issues. Our goal is to facilitate cooperation between government agencies, the scientific community, and the private sector in order to produce policy proposals that will effectively address important husbandry and conservation issues. The health of these animals, public safety, and maintaining ecological integrity are our primary concerns.
Our approach to advocacy we consider to be the 1-2 Punch of grass roots politics.
1. Articulate our positions on critical issues to legislators or government agencies through attorneys, lobbyists and scientists.
2. Underpin that position with a groundswell of grass roots support from the masses of the industry and hobby.
It is a formula that worked beautifully at the state level. USARK is our vehicle to enforce the will of the reptile community.
There have been many naysayers, both within and outside our community. Some did not think the reptile folks could work together well enough to get the organization off the ground. We have proved them wrong! Many of the large players in the industry have already come aboard. If you were in Daytona you saw all the USARK/Reptile Nation T-shirts being worn by the biggest vendors.
Join 'The Reptile Nation'... Join USARK and let's all work together to protect our right to own and trade in reptiles!
Andrew Wyatt
president@usark.org
www.usark.org
252-207-1041
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RE: USARK Enjoys Coming Out Party at Daytona
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by FSB on August 27, 2008
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United we stand... if reptile enthusiasts have any hope at all of having our voices heard above the shrill outcries of the ignorant, it's through an organization like this. Get on board!
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RE: USARK Enjoys Coming Out Party at Daytona
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by Chris_Harper on August 27, 2008
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I can't think of anyone better than Andrew to lead USARK and I am urging EVERYONE to join and lend their support. If you can't be there, your dollars will help them accomplish YOUR GOALS. If ever reptile keeper in the US gave just $5, USARK will be a formidable organization to the opposition. Believe me, it's all about how much money they can raise. This is not the time to lay silent. The opposition is trying as hard as they can to sound the death knell for reptile keepers. Band together now, or face a bleak future.
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RE: USARK Enjoys Coming Out Party at Daytona
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by tigers9 on August 27, 2008
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HSUS and API/Born free are uniting. SCARY.
To me uniting in animals community should be uniting of all animal owners (domestic and exotics), not just uniting of reptile folks.
However all the internal fights I am personally witnessing within groups scare me and I am wondering if animal owners can ever win, maybe Prozac for everybody ?hehe
( the cat fights are incredible on exotic cat elists, the highest concentration of estrogen anywhere, I am thinking about cancelling my comedy channel, cat fights are much better).(insert sarcasm)
Anyway, I heard there was supposedly some friction in NC regarding NC bill, I will let Andrew explain it to hear his side. Frictions involved dissatisfaction of people who donated to the fight thinking they would be protected, people who were multispecies owners (reptiles AND mammals) and people who owned no reptiles but felt NCARK would take care of them.
At the end, reptiles were taken out of the NC bill, other species are still in it. I think these people need to be addressed so these misunderstanding and resentments do not happen again.
Thanks
Z
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RE: USARK Enjoys Coming Out Party at Daytona
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by Cro on August 27, 2008
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"If every reptile keeper in the US gave just $5, USARK will be a formidable organization to the opposition."
That is true, if the money is spend on the right things and at the right places.
However the minimum Membership is $30.00, and the Business Membership it $250.00.
Will USARK have a Junior Membership level for kids that only chagres say $10.00 dollars ? That might be worth thinking about. A lot of kids probably will not have $30.00 to spend.
Will USARk have a PayPal donation thing so people who want to just sent $5.00, but not become members will be able to do so ?
"The summer has been spent putting together the infrastructure of the corporation, electing officers apppointing a Board of Directors."
So, WHO are the Elected Officers and Board of Directors ? The USARK Website ONLY lists Andrew as the Leadership "Team."
Don't get me wrong. I plan to support USARK. I plan to encourage others to become members, once I see that the right folks are running the thing.
I have a lot of confidence in Andrew being the kind of leader who can make USARK work to support All Reptile Keepers, including Venomous Reptile Keepers, and Large Python Keepers, unlike the lack of support that we have seen from outfits like PIJAK. He has had good success in the State of North Carolina, and I wish him luck in this venture.
However, the quality of the other folks who are Officers and Board Members will have a great deal to do with wether this organization makes it or not. Andrew can not run this thing as a one man show.
How about putting the names of these Officers and Directors on the Web Site ?
Are there plans to advertise USARK heavily in magazines like "Reptiles" that are read by many herp keepers to help the turtle, frog, ball python, and lizard folks know that their pets are in danger also ?
I would just like to see more information available. The best time to get folks to join a group, is when it first gets public attention. The information that will help them decide if they want to be a member should be in place at that time.
Best Regards John Z
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RE: USARK Enjoys Coming Out Party at Daytona
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by MoccasinMan on August 27, 2008
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Chris- Thank you for the support... you have always been someone I can count on!
Z- Sherry Tregembo the owner of the oldest Zoo in NC donated significant amounts to NCARK because she realized that in NC where the reptile folks go... so goes all exotics. As a result of our efforts API can't pass gas in NC and their bill is dead in the water. Sherry is the Treasurer of USARK. NCARK has our model legislation pending in the NC Senate for the'09 session.
John- the website is not as complete as we would like but we made the decision to go forward in order to be ready for Daytona. The BOD is now listed. I like your idea of a jr membership... any dollar donation can be made through PayPal a donation@usark.org.
i am submitting an article to Karl who i saw in Daytona w/ Dana for approval which will give the story of NCARK/USARK. an article is pending with Reptiles Mag and we wil be advertizing in every venue we can find.
thaks all,
Andrew
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RE: USARK Enjoys Coming Out Party at Daytona
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by FSB on August 27, 2008
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I think Z makes a good point, and also sets a great example, being someone who specializes in exotic cats and yet spends an awful lot of time hanging out on this site with us "lower vertebrate" types. Ok, I don't much care for that terminology either, but you have to admit that snakes are generally lower to the ground, in a literal sense, than most other vertebrates, unless they're up in a tree.
The point is that we would present a much stronger front if we could unite with all types of exotic animal keepers, as there is no underestimating the single-minded determination, however misguided and downright stupid, of the opposition. These people are absolute fanatics and will stop at nothing - even terrorism - to get their way. And, unfortunately for us, the general public is already disposed to view anyone who keeps snakes - let alone VENOMOUS snakes - as being several cards short of a full deck, and so it's no problem at all for the REAL wackos to propagandize and blow a few horror stories all out of proportion enough to paint us all as being a bunch of dangerous and unstable wackos in the eyes of the public and their elected officials.
Venomous snakes are a very real and undeniable part of this world that have been here millions of years longer than our earliest ancestors, and they need to be closely and thoroughly studied. Not to do so, and worse, to tell others not to do so, is a form of enforced willful ignorance, and that is just the greatest of all evils. And sorry, but I don't feel that the study of these animals can be left entirely up to a few people with degrees working in laboratories with tissue samples and preserved specimens, though I am not discounting the imnportance of what they do. But the sad truth is, reptiles have always been given "short-shrift" in the larger world of the biological sciences, and even legitimate and able researchers who are dedicated to their study have a hard time getting their projects funded.
The people who have achieved the greatest understanding of venomous reptiles are the ones who have risked working with them alive and on their own terms (and with their own funds), something that more than a few academics (not all!), despite their lofty credentials and institutional backing, seem unwilling or afraid to do. Many of the greatest contributors to the field: Kauffeld, Haast, Klauber, Ditmars, and quite a few of our own contemporaies, have not had advanced degrees, and most have had no degree at all. But they have had a very real drive to understand these incredibly fascinating animals, based in a true love and respect, and an inborn, insatiable curiosity to find things out that have nothing to do with advancing their own careers, prestige or standing in academic journals.
If you haven't already, I'd urge anyone here to return the favor to Z and visit www.REXANO.org, which has a lot of great information of interest to anyone involved with keeping any type of exotic or unusual animal. And be sure to sign the petition there calling to revoke the tax-exempt status of the HSUS. There is no way that a nonprofit organization should be involved in political lobbying or activism.
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RE: USARK Enjoys Coming Out Party at Daytona
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by tigers9 on August 27, 2008
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Well, I have been a reptile keeper (for 20 years) much longer than I have been a big cat keeper, over 12 years.
REXANO even has a ReptielHaven YT channel.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=reptileHaven
I don’t own any venomous snakes, but I do own Nile monitor, who is often banned with big or venomous snakes.
I feel we need groups dedicated to specific animals, big cats, reptiles, birds, monkeys, etc…this is important when/if there is a need to educate and write industry standards for caging and care, since somebody like me, reptile/wolf/Big cat keeper has no clue what to do about ‘hairy kids’, aka monkeys or noisy birds.Not my thing, but I will fight to protect others rights to keep monkeys and birds.
But when it comes to fighting the bill, I do not agree with approach “exempt my animals I don’t care for others”.
All groups regardless of what animals they represent must keep saying, NO BANS, NO UNREASONABLE regs.
Having certain animals taken out of the bill, aka compromising, is a dividing game I do not play.
FSB thanks for compliments on REXANO, we couldn’t have done it without others who donate their pics and write articles too.:)
Z
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