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For a shelter near you,

check out the S.O.S. Shelter List:

OR

The American Ferret Association Shelter List:

 

 

 

 

All ferrets are spayed or neutered BEFORE adoption.

 

We do not ship, or breed.

 

Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act -

H.R. 669 and its Potential Impact on You

If you're the proud owner of a ferret, gerbil, hamster, exotic bird, reptile, or any number of nonnative aquarium fish, your action is needed concerning a proposed new regulation called the "Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act" (H.R. 669). This bill would totally revamp how nonnative species (many enjoyed as pets) are regulated in this country.

H.R. 669 would create severe restrictions on the importation, breeding, sale, or interstate transport of nonnative species in the United States, including household pets such as gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, fish, and various birds, reptiles and amphibians.

If H.R. 669 passes, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) would be required to conduct a risk assessment for each nonnative wildlife species to determine if it is likely to "cause economic or environmental harm or harm to other animal species' health or human health." In order to be on the "Approved List" it must be established that the species has not, or is not likely, to cause "harm" anywhere in the United States. Species that are considered potentially harmful would be placed on an "Unapproved List."

Under H.R. 669, species not appearing on the "Approved List" could not be imported into the United States or moved interstate. Legal trade in all such unlisted species would come to a halt, possession would be limited, and all breeding would cease. Exceptions are limited and would not be available to pet owners across the nation.

Current drafting has unrealistic criteria for a species to make the "Approved List"

A "one size fits all" assessment process for a species is not plausible - what may be harmful in Hawaiian waters, for instance, would not necessarily be harmful in other states' waterways

US Fish and Wildlife Service does not have the capacity to implement the provisions given current staff, budget, and timeliness of the bill

H.R. 669 does not take into consideration the socio-economic impact of the bill - currently thousands of nonnative species are both imported and exported, as well as captive raised within the United States

Your immediate action is needed!

(Crossposted with permission)

Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:22:37 -0400

From: Sukie Crandall

Subject: Here are the co-sponsors of HR 669, and here are the members of the two committees now considering it. ALL must get letters, as must your own Reps, PLEASE

Personally, I think that the intent of the Bill is a good one, but that is due to having been a student of Primatology (both in the field -- in the Amazon Basin and in fossil prospecting in Wyoming, and in a university setting where I worked with 3 genera of apes, at least 8 genera of NW monkeys, and 2 of prosiminans) before illness cut my education short, and having worked with ecological studies since then. There really IS a need to ban certain animals and plants, and I suspect they are going about it backwards (by creating a list of what would be allowed) so that unnamed species are kept out. That approach opens a real can of worms, though, unless such Bills would have greatly

enlarged lists of flora and fauna based upon actual data.

The number of letters has been good BUT the Bill HAS ADVANCED TO FULL COMMITTEE so people are patting themselves on the back too soon and we could all easily wind up blind sided.

People in their states need to be extra sure to write to these members

of the House of Representatives who are CO-SPONSORS of HR 669.

Del. Madeleine Bordallo [D-GU]

Cosponsors [as of 2009-04-24] Rep. Grace Napolitano [D-CA] Del. Eni Faleomavaega [D-AS]

Del. Gregorio Sablan [I-MP] Rep. Steve Cohen [D-TN] Del. Donna Christensen [D-VI]

Rep. Frank Pallone [D-NJ] Rep. Neil Abercrombie [D-HI] Rep. James McGovern [D-MA]

Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D-CA] Rep. Ronald Kind [D-WI] Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]

Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA] Rep. Barney Frank [D-MA] Rep. Rush Holt [D-NJ]

Rep. Steve Kagen [D-WI] Rep. Charles Gonzalez [D-TX] Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D-NY]

Rep. Dale Kildee [D-MI] Rep. Lois Capps [D-CA] Rep. Ron Klein [D-FL]

Rep. Peter DeFazio [D-OR] Rep. Sam Farr [D-CA] Rep. Alcee Hastings [D-FL]

Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart [R-FL] Rep. George Miller [D-CA]

Cosponsorship information sometimes is out of date.

A great additional resource for detailed information on HR 669:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-669

The Bill is going to be under discussion in the following committees now:

The previous subcommittee where it was already under "study" (if the little bit done could be called that) so see previous posts on that

regard.

Now it will ALSO be going to the House Committee on Natural Resources which has 48 members:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/committee.xpd?id=HSII

http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/inde....id=96&Itemid=27

Members of the Committee on Natural Resources

 U.S. House of Representatives 111th Congress

1324 Longworth House Office Building

(202) 225-6065 Fax: (202) 225-1931

MR. NICK J. RAHALL, II, West Virginia, Chairman, MR. DOC HASTINGS, Washington, Ranking Republican Member

(Ratio 29-20)

> Dale E. Kildee, Michigan > Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa > Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii

> Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey > Grace F. Napolitano, California > Rush D. Holt, New Jersey

> Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona > Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam > Jim Costa, California

> Dan Boren, Oklahoma > Gregorio "Kilili" Sablan, Mariana Islands > Martin Heinrich, New Mexico

> George Miller, California > Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts > Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon

> Maurice D. Hinchey, New York > Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands > Diana DeGette, Colorado

> Ron Kind, Wisconsin > Lois Capps, California > Jay Inslee, Washington

> Joe Baca, California > Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, South Dakota > John P. Sarbanes, Maryland

> Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire > Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts > Frank Kratovil, Jr., Maryland

> Pedro R. Pierluisi, Puerto Rico Don Young, Alaska > Elton Gallegly, California

> John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee > Jeff Flake, Arizona > Henry E. Brown, Jr., South Carolina > Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington > Louie Gohmert, Texas > Rob Bishop, Utah

> Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania > Doug Lamborn, Colorado > Adrian Smith, Nebraska

> Robert J. Wittman, Virginia > Paul C. Broun, Georgia > John Fleming, Louisiana

> Mike Coffman, Colorado > Jason Chaffetz, Utah > Cynthia M. Lummis, Wyoming

> Tom McClintock, California > Bill Cassidy, Louisiana

Members of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife

1337 Longworth House Office Building (Insular Affairs)

(202) 225-0691 Fax: (202) 225-0521

187 Ford House Office Building (Oceans and Wildlife)

(202) 226-0200 Fax: (202) 225-1542

 Mrs. Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam, Chairwoman, Mr. Henry E. Brown, Jr., South Carolina, Ranking Republican Member

> Dale E. Kildee, Michigan > Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa > Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii

> Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey > Gregorio "Kilili" Sablan, Mariana Islands > Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands

> Diana DeGette, Colorado > Ron Kind, Wisconsin > Lois Capps, California

> Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire > Frank Kratovil, Jr., Maryland > Pedro R. Pierluisi, Puerto Rico > Nick J. Rahall, II, West Virginia (ex officio) > Don Young, Alaska > Jeff Flake, Arizona

> Doug Lamborn, Colorado > Robert J. Wittman, Virginia > John Fleming, Louisiana

> Jason Chaffetz, Utah > Bill Cassidy, Louisiana > Doc Hastings, Washington, ex officio

Where to find the addresses of members of Congress:

your library, your town hall and local newspaper's editorial page for your own Reps

(who also need to be written)

Resources such as

http://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

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