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Snakes in the Lobby (or) The Right to Bear Pythons
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by tigers9 on August 21, 2009
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http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/the-platform/published-editorials/2009/08/snakes-in-the-lobby-or-the-right-to-bear-pythons/
08.21.2009 6:25 pm
Snakes in the Lobby (or) The Right to Bear Pythons
By Editorial Board
Who knew that 25-foot-long snakes had their own lobbyists? Is this a great country or what?
The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council and the United States Association of Reptile Keepers have mounted an attack on two bills in Congress that would add Burmese and African Rock pythons to the Lacey Act’s list of “injurious” species that can’t be imported into the country or shipped from state to state.
Large numbers of the snakes are thought to have escaped into the Everglades when Hurricane Andrew devastated south Florida in 1992. Some biologists believe pet owners often release pythons into the wild when the animals grow too large. Estimates of their number now run as high as 150,000.
The Humane Society of the United States says at least 12 persons, including five children, have been killed by pythons since 1980, the latest a 2-year-old who was killed by her mother’s boyfriend’s 12-foot Burmese python in July.
“It’s just a matter of time before one of these snakes gets to [an Everglades] visitor,” said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
Lobbyists are coiling back, saying the bills would destroy the $3 billion-a-year captive snake industry. They need a bumper sticker slogan. We recommend: “You’ll get my python when you pry it from my cold, dead, badly-compressed body.”
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