My earlier thread is up to 10 pages, and new data can get lost, so I'm posting this on its own. This is a summary of the legislation proposed, written by Stephan Tanner, a European biologist now living in the USA, and well known in the hobby.
Consequences of Section 71102 (or Lacey Act amendments) in house bill H.R.4521 for the U.S. pet hobby
• Outlaws >98% of all pet species in the US trade (birds, mammals, amphibs, fish, reptiles, plus invertebrates such as corals, spiders, insects, crustaceans, etc., by declaring them invasive/injurious wildlife by default within 1 year after signing of the final law
• Wild and captive born animals are treated the same
• Import/Export and moving with most pets across state lines become illegal
• Lacey Act is federal law; any species deemed a risk anywhere is outlawed nationwide
• Legal species aside of cats and dogs limited to a small handful
• Legal status designated by USFWS=conflict of interest: fewer species → less work
• Importers, wholesalers, breeders, fish farmers, coral growers, etc. go bankrupt
• Most local pet shops close, so will many specialist manufacturers and equipment suppliers
• Thousands of mostly small businesses cease operation, diminishing property values
• Tens of thousands of jobs lost, diminishing income tax revenue
• $20 billion in annual sales lost, diminishing sales tax revenue
• Black marketing and criminal smuggling increase, how did alcohol prohibition turn out?
• Prices for legal species increase as overall market is smaller
• Equipment and foods disappear as manufacturing is no longer profitable
Current status:
• Sec 71102 was added by to H.R.4521 without debate in early Feb 2022
• H.R.4521 with Sec 71102 passed the house of representative 221:210 on Feb 4, 2022
• Senate bill S.1260 passed the senate 68:32 on Jun 8, 2021, but lacks these amendments
• Reconciliation of both bills is likely and there are enough votes to pass a reconciled bill
• Our only chance is to remove Sec 71102 during reconciliation
• Urgent: write to your senators!
Make no mistake, if these amendments survive into the final law,
the animal hobby ends!
Consequences of Section 71102 (or Lacey Act amendments) in house bill H.R.4521 for the U.S. pet hobby
• Outlaws >98% of all pet species in the US trade (birds, mammals, amphibs, fish, reptiles, plus invertebrates such as corals, spiders, insects, crustaceans, etc., by declaring them invasive/injurious wildlife by default within 1 year after signing of the final law
• Wild and captive born animals are treated the same
• Import/Export and moving with most pets across state lines become illegal
• Lacey Act is federal law; any species deemed a risk anywhere is outlawed nationwide
• Legal species aside of cats and dogs limited to a small handful
• Legal status designated by USFWS=conflict of interest: fewer species → less work
• Importers, wholesalers, breeders, fish farmers, coral growers, etc. go bankrupt
• Most local pet shops close, so will many specialist manufacturers and equipment suppliers
• Thousands of mostly small businesses cease operation, diminishing property values
• Tens of thousands of jobs lost, diminishing income tax revenue
• $20 billion in annual sales lost, diminishing sales tax revenue
• Black marketing and criminal smuggling increase, how did alcohol prohibition turn out?
• Prices for legal species increase as overall market is smaller
• Equipment and foods disappear as manufacturing is no longer profitable
Current status:
• Sec 71102 was added by to H.R.4521 without debate in early Feb 2022
• H.R.4521 with Sec 71102 passed the house of representative 221:210 on Feb 4, 2022
• Senate bill S.1260 passed the senate 68:32 on Jun 8, 2021, but lacks these amendments
• Reconciliation of both bills is likely and there are enough votes to pass a reconciled bill
• Our only chance is to remove Sec 71102 during reconciliation
• Urgent: write to your senators!
Make no mistake, if these amendments survive into the final law,
the animal hobby ends!
