Animal Owners Support Exotic Animal Bill
“This is definitely a win-win situation. HF1593 will protect the personal freedom to have an animal business or an exotic pet and insure that all owners meet care guidelines", says Culver.
Minnesota Agriculture Committee members amended an Exotic Animal bill and
gained the support of the Feline Conservation Federation, a national
organization of feline keepers.
FCF Legal Affairs Director Lynn Culver
says “HF1593 sponsored by Representative Steve Strachan is now a bill that
works. All the important points are covered. All owners register their animals
and pay a fee. The state has tracking information. Caging and health care
standards are defined."
“This is definitely a win-win situation. HF1593
will protect the personal freedom to have an animal business or an exotic pet
and insure that all owners meet care guidelines", says Culver.
Statistics show family farms that raise exotic animals support many
other businesses, such as veterinarians, feed companies and building supply
stores. Most income generated by USDA licensed facilities arrives from out of
state sales and most expenses incurred are local. Culver points out, “This means
that not only are private USDA licensed breeders helping wildlife species, they
are also important to rural economies.”
FCF has worked with feline owner
members in Minnesota and the Responsible Animal Owners Association of Minnesota
(RAOAM) to educate the Minnesota legislators about the value of privately owned
exotic animals.
The FCF opposes SF1530, sponsored by Senator Don Betzel,
a different exotic animal bill that would prohibit private ownership. “Radical
groups backing this bill are against you owning any exotic animals,” Culver
said, “and they want them sterilized and forced into sanctuaries. That’s not
protection – that’s extinction. If the animal rights movement has their way,
there will not be any future generations of wildlife for Americans to learn from
or enjoy.”
Culver notes the media focus on sensational stories hurts the
good owners. “Antoine Yates, the Harlem apartment dweller who kept a tiger is
not a normal exotic owner, but that is who the media covers. The exotic animal
community consists of many thousands of responsible owners and you never read
about them. This sort of tabloid journalism is fueling the animal rights agenda
to ban exotic animal ownership.”
The House Civil Law Committee will hear
HF1593 Friday March 12. The FCF urges Committee members to approve this amended
version of the bill. Culver says, “The Animal Rights agenda has no place in a
state that supports personal freedom and is completely capable of regulating
this agricultural activity”.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/3/prweb110125.htm