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This proposed bill would make the ownership of common pets such as hamsters, goldfish, parakeets and most reptiles no longer available. Breeding and taking them across state lines would become illegal. While there is provisions for a list of exceptions you know that a lot of common pets aren't going to make it out of fear that they will form wild populations.

Okay, I understand, yes invasive species are bad things and people who dump their animals are dipshits. However, dipshits like that are going dump animals whether they're native to this country as a whole or not. Cornsnakes, for example, are NOT native to california, and could cause severe harm to the genetic integrity of any native ratsnakes or could push out entirely certain snake populations. So... why are they automatically "better" than a hamster or a betta fish?

The approved list for this POS would have to be submitted within 13 months of this passing. In the mean, as nothing is approved, say goodbye to most mom and pop pet shops, your aquariums, your parrots and parakeets, your pocket pets, your ball pythons. Then, maybe, in 13 months you can have new ones. In the mean time, that means that only large super chains are going to have the means to import and breed these approved animals causing a severe reduction in competition and skyrocketed pet prices...

And the best part is the hypocritical fact that this bill isn't going to touch upon our pet dogs and cats... because there's no effing way it would have a snowball's chance in the middle of a supernova of passing.

So, go to that website. Send an email to your representative. Let them know that they need to find a *different* way of handling the release of non-native species into the wild that does not involve banning ALL non-native species.