Last night's reptile law legal summit in Tinley Park, Illinois, brought together a group of approximately 400 reptile owners, businesses, clubs and organizations to discuss the legal issues facing the herpetology community.

Leading off the summit was an outline and discussion of the recently launched Burmese Python Initiative, a rescue program initiated by Bill Brandt and Ben Siegel. With the pending listing of the Burmese Python as "injurious" by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the BPI hopes to provide options and answers to Burmese Python owners across the U.S.

This was followed by a proposal by Justin Meitz, of the Reno Herp Society, to start a National Herpetelogical Society to act as an top level organization connecting local herpetological societies into a connected network, in order to share resources and give the herp societies a voice at the national level. This is an organization that has long been needed by the community, and kingsnake.com fully supports the effort to provide a "national backbone" to these local herp clubs and groups.

USARK's Andrew Wyatt provided a historical overview of the USARK organization, what it has accomplished, and what it does with the funds it collects, and spoke about upcoming issues that need to be addressed by the community. Mike Canning, President of PIJAC (Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council), presented a similar overview of their organization as well and its role is in the fight to keep pet reptiles legal in the US.

Finally, a panel discussion on current and forthcoming legal challenges facing the reptile world was held with the leaders of these organizations, as well as noted members of the community. Questions were taken both from the audience and from submissions made via the Internet. The frustration of many in the room was felt, and at times it seeped into the questions, and answers. After nearly two hours the panel discussion wound down, leaving some members of the audience and panelists with few real answers (and even more questions than they had at the beginning), but many good directions and ideas.

While the idea of a Reptile Law Summit is a good one, in reality the time allotted did not allow for anything more than a surface discussion of the matters at hand. It is time for the community to consider holding a pure reptile law symposium and workshop, not buttressed by or conflicting with a Reptile Expo, to give reptile owners, businesses, and organizations more work space and time to coordinate efforts, share experiences and develop tools and strategies to more effectively deal with the issues we will face in the future, both near and far.

Eleven-year-old Tyshaun Grant was in stable condition at University of Chicago Comer’s Children’s Hospital following a shooting near West 59th Street and South Stewart Avenue in Chicago at around 4 p.m. yesterday. The incident occurred while he and his friends were looking for snakes around railroad tracks in Chicago. According to MSNBC:

Community activist Andrew Holmes said the boys were looking for snakes near the railroad tracks when two men in bandanas walked up and shot the child.

Kingsnsake.com is working to obtain more information, but a number of people. companies, and organizations in the reptile community are planning to host a fundraiser for the little snake hunter's medical expenses at this weekend's Reptile Law Summit and North American Reptile Breeders Conference in Tinley Park near Chicago.

Spearheaded by NARBC's Brian Potter, donation jars and a silent auction have already been planned for the event, and an online donation system has been set up at Chip In. The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council has already pledged a donation, as have kingsnake.com and others in the community and industry. Items for the auction can be sent to 14416 John Humphrey Dr, Orland Park, Il, 60462, but with the limited time an online donation might be the better option for most.

Stay tuned here at kingsnake.com for more information on Tyshaun Grant's condition and to find out how you can help the little snake hunter.

Ohio is set to hold it's first hearing on the proposed "Dangerous Wild Animal" bill tomorrow, and a number of pet reptiles are listed in the legislation, directly impacting thousands of reptile owners and businesses in the midwest. Senate Bill 310 sets forth conditions for ownership of certain “restricted snakes” requiring extensive and expensive permitting, as well as up to $500,000 in liability insurance. The following snakes are considered “restricted snakes” in Senate Bill 310:

• Green anacondas;
  
• Yellow anacondas;
  
• Reticulated pythons;
  
• Indian pythons;
  
• Burmese pythons;
  
• North African rock pythons;
  
• South African rock pythons;
  
• Amethystine pythons;
  
• Boa constrictors
  
• Species of the Family Atractaspididae;
  
• Species of the Family Elapidae;
  
• Species of the Family Viperidae;
  
• Boomslang snakes;
  
• Twig snakes; and
  
• Any other snakes designated by the Director
  

To read more about Ohio's "Dangerous Wild Animal" bill, and how you can offer your input, click below to read PIJAC's PetALERT...

kingsnake.com is again one of the sponsors of this weekends Reptile Law Summit, as well as the North American Reptile Breeders Conference, and I would like to invite anyone with an interest in reptile laws, or the organizations involved with representing pet owners, to attend the meeting Friday night in Tinley Park, Illinois, just outside Chicago. Please make sure to bring any questions, issues, or concerns you may have regarding regulatory issues at the state or federal level, or with the organizations involved, with you to the meeting.

I am scheduled to be a panelist Friday night representing kingsnake.com, along with PIJAC's Mike Canning, USARK's Andrew Wyatt, Gary Bagnall from Zoomed and others from the reptile industry and community, where we will be discussing the federal regulation of Burmese Pythons as well as other legal issues facing our community. Hopefully we can address some of your questions and concerns and maybe arrive at some solutions together.

Reptile Law Summit Schedule - March 16,2012 7:00 PM Ben Siegel - Burmese Python Initiative 7:15 PM Andrew Wyatt – USARK President 7:45 PM Mike Canning – PIJAC President

8:15 PM Panel Discussion Bill Brant – PIJAC Board Member Mike Canning – PIJAC President Ben Siegel – Burmese Python Initiative Andrew Wyatt – USARK President Joan Galvin – USARK Board Member Gary Bagnall – USARK Board Member Mike Wilbanks – Constrictors Unlimited Jeff Barringer - kingsnake.com Others - TBA

Cindy Steinle and myself will be posting updates and hopefully providing audio and video interviews from the site, so if you are unable to attend please make sure to check in here at kingsnake.com for regular on-scene reports. The Reptile Law Summit meeting Friday night is FREE! ~ for more information on the Reptile Law Summit please visit the NARBC web site at http://narbc.com. Please drop us a note here and let us know if you will be attending.