House Bill 1725 will make ownership of many snakes and lizards in Washington State a crime. Larger species of pythons, boas, monitors as well as helodermas have been singled out in this bill.

People owning animals listed in this bill prior to its effective date could only continue to keep their animals after complying with impossibly complex and expensive restrictions.
These restrictions include $250,000.00 liability per animal, permits, fees, warning signs at all entrances, inspections and much more.

There could be no new owners and if there were any grandfathered animals still alive, breeding those animals could become very problematic.

It is this author's opinion that laws enacted in the name of “public safety” should be based on facts, hard statistics and credible evidence and should not be based on fears, misconceptions, myths, movies or even public opinion.
Statistically the most dangerous animal to keep is an African elephant. An elephant kills a keeper somewhere in the world almost every year and there are not a lot of elephant keepers to begin with.
Elephants were not singled out by HB1725. I suspect that this is because elephants have never caused a death in Washington State and have never been a problem. However, snakes, lizards and crocodilians have never caused a death in this state or been a problem either.
Currently I am looking for ANY public records that document any human deaths or injuries caused by any non venomous reptile in WA. I have been unable to find any yet, but I am continuing the search. If you are aware of any such records,  please forward the information to me by clicking on this e-mail link. Mail To Mark

I am certain that dogs, cats and horses present a much greater risk to the health and safety of Washington State residents than all of the “illegal” animals listed in HB1725 combined. This page is still under development and I will be adding related statistics and sources as they become available.
 
 

Contact your legislator. To find the contact information for your district  http://dfind.leg.wa.gov/ or call toll free 1-800-562-6000.

This link is for contact information of the Natural Resources Committee http://wsl.leg.wa.gov/house/opr/natrcomm.htm
House Bill 1725 is not yet out of this committee.

Here are the e-mail addresses of the legislators who are sponsoring HB1725:

John Lovick lovick_jo@leg.wa.gov
Mark Miloscia miloscia_ma@leg.wa.gov
Al O'Brien obrien_al@leg.wa.gov
Hans Dunshee dunshee_ha@leg.wa.gov
Mike Cooper cooper_mi@leg.wa.gov
Joe McDermott mcdermot_jo@leg.wa.gov
Geoff Simpson simpson_ge@leg.wa.gov
Laura Ruderman ruderman_la@leg.wa.gov
Steve Kirby kirby_st@leg.wa.gov
Christopher Hurst hurst_ch@leg.wa.gov
Edward Murray murray_ed@leg.wa.gov
Jerome Delvin delvin_je@leg.wa.gov
Alex Wood wood_al@leg.wa.gov
 

To join a new discussion group about this bill http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HB1725
or to subscribe by e-mail HB1725-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
 
 

The enactment of this bill would have a tremendous negative impact on everyone in Washington State with an interest in reptiles. This can make the related issues very personal and emotional for people who love reptiles. None the less, I recommend that contact with your legislators be diplomatic and helpful rather than confrontational and adversarial.

A sample letter will be published to this page shortly. There is a very limited timeline before this bill pushes through. This matter is urgent, please inform everyone you know who might be interested about this bill.
The Pacific Northwest Herpetological Society is forming a committee in the Seattle area to address this bill. I am a member of this committee and will publish information here as it arises. This committee was formed mere hours ago. This page is still very much under construction. Please bookmark this page now and check back frequently for updates.  - Mark A. Silver
 
 

HB1725 would require pet owners to post "warning signs". I have created such a sign (humorous) click here to see it.

If you click on http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/local/critters16.shtml and read the story, it would seem that Representative John Lovick,
lovick_jo@leg.wa.gov  is the primary sponsor of this bill.

Exotic animals are already illegal in Seattle. Snakes over 8 feet and "venomous" frogs are are included in the definition.
There is no grandfather clause! The only legal option available to owners  is "disposal" (murder) of your pet.
Here is a link to Municipal Ordinance 119.998

A useful link for statistical comparison http://www.dogbitelaw.com/pages/statistics.html#Dog bite statistics
For an image of dog bite related fatalities in the US by state 1979-1996 http://www.blarg.net/~boa/dogbitestats.JPEG

HB1725 is currently still in the Department Of Natural Resources Committee (DNR). It is this authors sincere hope that this bill will not be put to the house and will not leave this committee.
You can help; here are links for contacts and bios of the DNR committee's co-chairpersons.
Representative Mark Doumit http://wsl.leg.wa.gov/house/members/d19_2.htm office (360) 786-7870 home (360)-795-3063
Representative Bob Sump http://wsl.leg.wa.gov/house/members/d7_1.htm (360) 786-7908
Please call and let them know that you oppose this bill.

E-mail links for other DNR committee members:
Rep. KIRK PEARSON  pearson_ki@leg.wa.gov
Rep. PHIL ROCKEFELLER  rockefel_ph@leg.wa.gov
Rep. JIM BUCK buck_ji@leg.wa.gov
Rep. GARY CHANDLER  chandler_ga@leg.wa.gov
Rep. JEANNE EDWARDS edwards_je@leg.wa.gov
Rep. WILLIAM EICKMEYER eickmeye_bi@leg.wa.gov
Rep. DOUG ERICKSEN ericksen_do@leg.wa.gov
Rep. BROCK JACKLEY  jackley_br@leg.wa.gov
Rep. EDWARD B. MURRAY  murray_ed@leg.wa.gov
Rep. JOHN E. PENNINGTON penningt_jo@leg.wa.gov
 
 

An out of state contributor has just sent along this well written letter. Read it here

Read a letter regarding HB1725 from a feline advocate here

This letter lends a well stated personal perspective, read it here

Read a well informed letter from a reptile lover here

Click here to e-mail all the Legislators listed below in one message (Regarding House Bill 1725)
doumit_ma@leg.wa.gov, sump_bo@leg.wa.gov, pearson_ki@leg.wa.gov,
rockefel_ph@leg.wa.gov, buck_ji@leg.wa.gov, chandler_ga@leg.wa.gov,
edwards_je@leg.wa.gov, eichmay_bi@leg.wa.gov, ericksen_do@leg.wa.gov,
jackley_br@leg.wa.gov, murray_ed@leg.wa.gov, penningt_jo@leg.wa.gov

Note: 2/22/01 there were some incorrect addresses in the above link, they have been fixed.
 

Click here to e-mail all the Senators listed below in one message (Regarding Senate Bill 5729)
jacobsen_ke@leg.wa.gov, spanel_ha@leg.wa.gov, constant_do@leg.wa.gov, oke_bo@leg.wa.gov,
mcdonald_da@leg.wa.gov, morton_bo@leg.wa.gov, stevens_va@leg.wa.gov
To read this bill click here SB5729

Good news: I just talked with a friend who drove down to Olympia to meet with his representative. He was told "off the record" that HB1725 will most likely never get out of committee. Let's keep the pressure on until this is official.

Bad news: There is a sister bill that may go before the state senate SB5729, read it here: SB5729
Even if this bill fails or isn't introduced this year, It can be reintroduced at anytime during the senates regular session!

It is already illegal to "display" almost all non domestic animals in Washington State read SENATE BILL 6436 SB6436
NOTE REGARDING SB6436: A concerned and informed party has informed me that this bill was defeated. I am searching through a lot of material right now to try to verify this. If you have know the definitive answer please apprise me, thank you.

What would happen if HB1725 passes? To read my some of my speculations regarding this question click here

Could they be next?  (I hope not I like honey)
There are people in this state who keep thousands of venomous animals.
Their venomous animals roam about in public freely. These animals carry no license tags or micro chip implants to identify them or their owners. The type of animal these people are keeping cause more venom related fatalities than all other venomous animals combined.
Click on this link to read a recent story about hybridized bees.
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2000/Feb-10-Thu-2000/news/12935926.html

If there are any links you would like to see added or;
If you find any typos, null links or errors on this page, please click here and let me know about them. I will correct/add them promptly. Thank you.

Please feel free to share or publish a link to this page. Also, feel free to use or share any of my files from this page (unaltered please) you do not need my permission to do so.