Thomas Cobb to keep his snakes

Thomas Cobb's snakes: Many of us have followed the Thomas Cobb situation in Utah in which Cobb was unaware of a city ordinance requiring a permit to keep exotic animals. The language of the ordinance was ambiguous, and although some citizens wanted officials to enforce that Cobb only be allowed one pet, Cobb prevailed and was granted 29 permits for his 29 boa constrictors.

Cobb did a remarkable job representing the herp community, remaining professional and level-headed at all times. Not enough can be said about his dedication to present herp keepers in a positive light.

Thank you for being a responsible and dedicated herper, Thomas. Thank you to everyone who supported, and continues to support, Thomas, as well.

Shipping news: Legislation has been introduced to solve an interstate transport issue for exporting certain snake species. Under current ruling, if a shipment must stop anywhere in the U.S. after departure, it is considered interstate commerce even though the plane is merely stopping to refuel or add freight before leaving the country.

The proposed legislation will allow for export even when the shipment must pass through intermediate airports that are not designated ports. The ruling that listed several snake species as injurious under the Lacey Act has resulted in many headaches for anyone exporting these large constrictor snake species.

The snakes included in this bill are: Burmese python, Indian python, Northern and Southern African pythons and Yellow anaconda.

Photo of Thomas Cobb and son, Caiden Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

A longtime reptile breeder, hobbyist, and member of the reptile industry, Phil Goss is the President of the United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK), the reptile community's national grassroots organization that works on regulatory issues at the local, state and federal levels.

Photo by Toni Childers.