PLEASE READ IN FULL, THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO ANIMAL WELFARE
When someone mentions the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) what do you imagine?
You imagine dedicated, hard-working, honest, caring people who aim to ensure the protection and safety of all animals under the sun.
Well, I'm afraid you're wrong.
Recently it has come to my attention that the RSPCA is not all what it seems. I used to give a donation per month to them, but after hearing this, I've canceled my donations and have started a personal campaign to bring to light what this (apparently) animal loving society is doing.
Through this link:
http://forum.kingsnake.com/uk/messages/1862.html
You can learn about what the RSPCA are doing under-hand, hidden from the public to ban reptiles in the UK. Even if you are not a resident in the UK, please take interest as it would only be a matter of time before reptiles could be banned in your home country.
In short, the RSPCA are trying to stop the public keeping reptiles, from several points of view
1. They will not care for reptiles that are brought to them, they are passed on to individuals, or more frequently put down (ill or not)
2. Reptiles are not seen as "popular" pets, most people are afraid of snakes and lizards and the RSPCA are working from this to equate this ban
3. Treatment of unwell reptiles is very expensive, the RSPCA would rather not spend any money on them at all by achieving this ban
This may seem, to some of you, to be a good idea. However, to many people, the reptiles they keep are a huge part of their lives and indeed livelihoods in reptile shops.
This ban would stop:
Imports
Sales
Breeding
and personal ownership
Dont forget, "reptile" isnt just crocodiles, poisonous snakes and such, with this ban there would be no tortoises, no terrapins, no geckos, no snakes, no lizards, no turtles, no iguanas, no skinks, no monitors, nothing.
The vast majority of reptiles are completely harmless, using statistics from USA (as the UK stats are not public) i can show that reptile related injuries are much less frequent than, say, dog related.
4.7 million dog attacks in US 2001 (2percent of the population)
and in comparison:
9873 reptile attacks in the US 2001 (much, much less than 2percent im sure you'll agree)
After looking at this, now remember that the US has a much higher density of reptiles than the UK, so the number of estimated reptile attacks in the UK is much less than the US, while there are less dogs aswell, there are not dramatically as less than the difference in reptiles between Nations.
So I ask this question:
If the RSPCA is allegedly worried about the amount of reptile attacks in the UK, then why arent they worried about the proportionally higher ratio of dog attacks?
So what can I do?
Its easy, be aware and make others aware of the RSPCA's intentions to go against their own policies and, in effect, cull all reptiles in the UK.
I will hopefully be organising some things with a few close friends at home and I will make you all aware of the plans, from online petitions to public awareness events.
I would strongly urge you to try and do the same, the more the public know about this and the more people we get to oppose this ban (in ANY country) the better chance we have to save reptile lives and human livelihoods.
If the RSPCA wont do their job of protecting every animal on this planet, then theres something very wrong, and we owe it to ourselves and the creatures we share the world with to stand up and fight against something so hideously wrong as this.
P.S. As an afterword, if you aren't a reptile lover or not even neutral, please dont flame this discussion and issue, just keep giving your money to RSPCA and enjoy hell when you get there.