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Nelson pushes python ban
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by tigers9 on July 7, 2009
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http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/state/Nelson_python_ban_070709
Nelson pushes python ban
Updated: Tuesday, 07 Jul 2009, 5:32 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 07 Jul 2009, 5:32 PM EDT
• Chris Chmura
TAMPA - Burmese pythons should be banned as pets and imports of the snakes should be outlawed, Florida Senator Bill Nelson said Tuesday.
Nelson will testify before a Senate committee Wednesday, telling the story of 2-year-old Shaiunna Hare, who was strangled to death by a pet Burmese python in Sumter County last week.
"This is a no-brainer. Unfortunately it took this tragedy to get to this point," Nelson said. "It was just a matter of time until a human was going to be threatened. And this time, tragically, in a home."
Wildlife officers believe the eight-foot-long pet python was inadequately caged and that it attacked the child because it was hungry. The snake weighed 12 pounds, half what it should have, according to investigators.
Criminal charges have not been filed, but are possible, a sheriff's spokesman said.
"The Sumter County Sheriff's Office and Fish and Wildlife investigators are in the process of looking at all the evidence," said Gary Morse of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The tale of Hare's tragic death -- likely a first in Florida -- adds a new refrain to Nelson months-long push to ban python imports on environmental grounds.
Specifically, Nelson has pointed to the Everglades, where he says thousands of unwanted pet pythons have been dumped. They have proliferated to the point where wildlife officers estimate there are 150,000 of them in the wild.
"You can see, the ecological balance of Mother Nature is definitely being upset," Nelson said. "We must change it. We must do it quickly."
Critics say Nelson is reaching too far.
Bobby Rex, who owns Scales Exotic Pets in Brandon, says Burmese Pythons are less dangerous than dogs, provided owners care for the animals responsibly.
"Rather than ban people's livelihood and their pets," said Rex, "I think we need to just enforce the law."
Florida law requires that snakes be licensed, micro chipped, and properly caged. Owners are also required to have a plan to house the reptiles in case of emergencies or evacuation.
Investigators said the snake that killed Hare was neither licensed nor micro chipped. It was also housed in a cage without a lock, they said.
http://www.news-press.com/article/20090707/GREEN/90707020/1075
Florida Sen. Nelson wants to put squeeze non-native critters
BY EUN KYUNG KIM • GANNETT NEWS SERVICE • JULY 7, 2009
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WASHINGTON — Last week's death of a 2-year-old Sumter County girl by a pet Burmese python was inevitable, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Monday.
“Tragedy struck, and it’s not like we haven’t been warning,” the Florida Democrat said during a speech on the Senate floor.
The 8½ -foot python, which escaped its cage and slipped into the toddler’s crib, was a pet of the boyfriend of the victim’s mother.
Nelson used the tragedy to press for passage of a bill he introduced that would add pythons to a list of non-native species deemed “injurious” by federal biologists.
“That change … would stop the importation of these snakes into this country,” he said.
U.S. wildlife officials estimate there may be anywhere between 150,000 to 180,000 Burmese pythons living in Florida, many of them in the Everglades, where they have no natural predator.
Nelson warned that last week's tragedy outside Orlando could be soon repeated unless legislative changes are made along with other efforts to stop the python's proliferation.
“Sooner or later, a Burmese python will get the endangered Florida panther. Sooner or later, for an unsuspected tourist in the Everglades National Park, there will be an encounter with a human,” he said. “Tragically, it took this event of the strangulation by one of these snakes of a child within their own home in the child’s crib to bring this to our attention.”
Nelson will testify about his bill Wednesday before a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The topic is “threats to native wildlife species.”
© Copyright 2009 The News-Press. All rights reserved.
In Your Voice
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Bodacious1 wrote:
Nobodys sees that this is a problem? I am not saying we should not be worried about the economy but you do understand that owning a python is not just a right but a responsibility which many have not lived up to. They have released their pythons into the everglades where they have run a muck and live unchecked. Maybe you do not care about your enviornment until it comes crawling through your door, but I say, better do it now than wait till later.
The good thing about the feds is that they can focus on more than one thing at a time which is much better than our state. The budget was the main issue this entire legislative session and many good bills died on the house floor. NFMNEAL-I hate it when people use scare tactics to point out that which is not possible. Yes, there are cities that have outlawed vicious dogs. If you like those dogs, you have the wonderful opportunity in this country not to live there.
7/7/2009 11:31:07 AM
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NFMNEAL wrote:
This is what bites me about liberals.....a million things going wrong and he wastes media and our time with a one in a million accident....Liberal Democracts dont feel you are capable of handeling thingss yourself....soon no pitbulls or rotties or chows..... Keep taking and taking our rights aways....does not anyone see this....punish the ones that have taken care of their pets and oh yea what economy.....this fuc stick is a loser and we just keep putting him back in office...
7/7/2009 10:04:50 AM
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NFMNEAL wrote:
has anyone seen stryker......col stryker anyone
7/7/2009 10:00:58 AM
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Obamasfault wrote:
Nelson is still the nobody he was 6 years ago
7/7/2009 8:57:54 AM
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privateroad wrote:
can't protect everyone just do your job an d fix the economy.
7/7/2009 8:53:06 AM
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RE: Nelson pushes python ban
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by Adamanteus70 on July 7, 2009
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Unbelievable. There are so many things that come to mind when it involves danger, things that take lives every single day, yet he focuses on a "freak" incident.
We should ban everything that has taken a life in the past four years. Ban those snakes and there will be even more releases and illegal snakes due to the fact it is illegal. That always drives up the demand to have what you are not allowed to have. Look at prohibition. Didn't stop that did it.
Paul
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