Saturday, April 24, 2010

Big Government Now Going After Pets

Proving that there is nothing (other than subservience and parasitism) that the government won't try to regulate out of existence, bureaucrats are now going after the practice of owning pets. While it waits for the gargantuan spending it has set in motion to sink the economy, Congress busies itself by once again reaching into your personal life with H.R. 669 — aka  The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act — a bill that could make many common pets illegal.

The idea is to ban animals and even plants that are not native to the USA. To save space, bureaucrats are listing what species are allowed, rather than all those that will be forbidden.

I'm guessing Comrade Obama's Portuguese water dog will get an exception, but your tropical fish, exotic bird, boa, or even hamster might not be so lucky.

blender-aquarium.jpg

Big Government's plan for your tropical fish collection.

SAY NO TO BILL H.R. 669 !!!!!!

What is HR 669?
H.R. 669 stands for House Resolution 669 and is titled "The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act". It is a bill currently before Congress that if passed will change the way that the US Government classifies animal species that are not native to the United States. H.R. 669 will make it illegal to breed and sell many animals that are very common in the pet trade.

To view full text of H.R. 669 click on the link
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h669ih.txt.pdf

Why should you care about HR 669?
Anyone with pet fish, birds, reptiles, or small mammals will be affected by this bill. Any company selling product or services for pet fish, birds, reptiles or small mammals will be affected by this bill. Would you be impacted by "The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act"?

Virtually all fish in an aquarium are not native to the United States
Most pet birds are species not native to the US
Most reptiles kept as pets are not native to the US
Hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and ferrets are not native to the US

What can you do to stop HR 669?
Pet owners support the concept of a risk based approach to non-native imports, unfortunately H.R. 669 as drafted does not provide a constructive way forward.You can help by standing up and making your voice heard. Let your Representative know that you oppose H.R. 669 as drafted and the financial and/or emotional effect it will have on you, or your friends, or your family members if it passes. The link below will allow you to send an email to your Representative in Congress and even give you the option to follow up with a phone call.

What else can you do to help?
The best thing that each of us can to do help is to recruit! There is strength in numbers. Send a link to this site to friends, family, church groups, car clubs, and anyone else that might be willing to take a couple of minutes out of their day to send an email viahttp://www.rallycongress.com/no-hr-669/1733/tell-congress-no-to-h-r-669/ or contact your state congressman by email or phone our voice does count.

Visit www.nohr669.com for more info and tips on what can you do to stop bill H.R. 669

Support PIJAC.
PIJAC is the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council. They are a unified voice for the pet industry representing all of our rights in Washington. There is strength in numbers, so joining PIJAC here: http://www.pijac.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1 it will definitely help. Or you can just visit the link for updates here: http://www.pijac.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=504

I want to keep my fish and continue with my hobby and I hope that you do too, so please take 5 minutes out of your time and do something about it. Doing nothing accomplishes nothing. Make your voice to be heard, stand up for your rights and rights of responsible pet owners. This bill won’t accomplish anything it has too many holes, people need to be educated instead. And government doesn’t need to spend all this money on something this stupid there is other ways to regulate non native species.

On a tip from John L. Hat tip: My Planted Tank Adventures.

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