Please Help, This Is Important

[Bitters]

It's feeling to me like all of this "you can't move with your pet " stuff might be a way for some rich people with their hands in exotic trade to keep their business running. But maybe I've been watching too many movies.

[Sadies]

I don't live in the USA, but have read of this bill, I live in the UK and honestly I have mixed feelings about it.

We here are not legally allowed to own a lot of exotic animals and you need a license to own most of them and to move them. The laws we have here in the UK has saved a lot of wild animals from being mistreated as pets.

It's currently legal here in the UK to own pet Foxes, Meerkats, Sugar Gliders, Small Monkeys (etc.), Parrots and these pets are often seen in horrific states because people do not know how to or don't properly care for them. You always see Monkeys and Parrots with no hair due to stress, Meerkats kept alone and just all around poor health care. Reptiles you often always see lacking the calcium they need to be healthy.

Of course there are people who illegally own exotics, but because they are harder to find and purchase, not everyone is owning them and they are harder to purchase.

Here in Europe we are not allowed to travel most exotic pets across the boarder without a huge amount of paperwork and quarantining upon arrival. (Dogs, cats and Ferrets are now also a pain to move after BREXIT, but not related. They don't quarantine either.).
There are good reasons for this; Disease that are dangerous to both pet and wild animals, illegal pet trade, invasive species risk, stress (which is more likely to kill a sick animal).

ALL animals moved here require a vet to sign off saying they are healthy.
I'm going to sound horrible when I say this; but most pet owners can not even recognize when their pet dog/cat is sick (I have personal experience of this practically on a daily basis working in Groomers or Kennels), it can be even harder to tell with an exotic species which has less available information on them. Your average pet owner does not have any education related to animal care and may not know how to even know when their pet is sick unless they are really ill.

I would assume it would be the same in the USA as it is here in the UK: You would have to get paperwork and a vet to move an animal, possibly even quarantine.
There may be a few people who know how to properly care for their exotic animals and ensure they are safe when travelling, but there are far more people who don't. These are the types of people that these laws ARE needed for. Sadly that does mean it effects everyone.

[comfypvppy]

@huskyhiccups thank you for including some links! it definitely helps people understand a situation better if they are backed up with sources and facts.

from what i read, it seems like the bill is mostly related to trafficking as @bitters mentioned. i believe these bills were put in place to protect fauna and flora rather than prohibiting people from traveling with their pets. i'm not very familiar with the bills or laws so definitely take my opinion with a grain of salt.

i'm not sure how similar our laws are to the UKs, but @sadies made great points!

[Sulin]

Bumping this because it is darn Important!

[Snugglebug]

bump