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Arlington hearing video
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by tigers9 on May 20, 2008
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click on the link
http://arlington.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=623&meta_id=47032
and see player on your left, in the column
Z
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RE: Arlington hearing video
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by tigers9 on May 20, 2008
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http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2008/05/19/arlington/news/nws86.txt
County Board OK's Ban on Venomous Snakes
by SCOTT McCAFFREY, Staff Writer
(Created: Sunday, May 18, 2008 9:18 AM EDT)
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County Board members on May 17 officially banned ownership of venomous snakes and reptiles in Arlington, giving the owners of such pets 30 days to dispose of them.
Acknowledging that such a ban is potentially unenforceable, County Board Chairman Walter Tejada said the 5-0 vote sent an important message.
“This might not necessarily stop someone,” the chairman said, “but it does say there are consequences.”
Since they began discussing a ban last month, county officials have received comment from those in favor of a ban, and those who say it infringes on an individual's rights.
“There's a lot of passionate opinion on both sides of the issue,” Deputy County Manager Marsha Allgeier told board members before the vote.
Arlington is one of a few local jurisdictions that does not already ban venomous snakes. The issue surfaced when a resident of Madison Manor was found to have a large number of such snakes, several of which apparently escaped into the neighborhood.
That news left the neighborhood in a “heightened state of fear,” said Varun Nikore, president of the Madison Manor Citizens Association.
Critics of the proposal said that the fear was more like paranoia, suggesting that those attending the public hearing were far more likely to be killed in a car crash than ever facing danger from a venomous snake.
The public hearing brought out more than a dozen speakers, many from Madison Manor in support of the new regulations.
Samantha Rollin, a youngster who lives in the neighborhood, said it was “sort of scary” to know that deadly snakes might be roaming the community. County officials have said that, to their knowledge, there are no venomous snakes in Madison Manor, but have not ruled out the possibility - or the potential that the snakes have made their way elsewhere.
One speaker who took a measured approach, looking at both sides was Louis Walsh, a retired Smithsonian Institution biologist and licensed snake breeder.
Walsh said he agreed that most people should not keep venomous snakes in an urban environment. But he voiced concern that the board's action could only be the first in a more wide-ranging ban on certain pets deemed dangerous.
“I'm more concerned about where this may lead,” he said.
County staff are researching the matter, and could come back to the board later with a proposal to ban other types of pets. Several board members said their action on May 17 was purposely limited in scope.
County Board member Jay Fisette said the action was “eminently reasonable and measured.” His colleague Mary Hynes called it a “limited, rational response” to a particularly dangerous situation.
But Walsh said the county already had regulations in place against owners who allow snakes to get loose.
“It makes me wonder why you need to have new regulations,” he said.
Allgeier said the owner of the home in Madison Manor has been cooperative with county officials, and has agreed to dispose of venomous reptiles he owns.
“He cares about the snakes,” Allgeier said. “He wants to dispose of them properly.”
After mid-June, anyone found in possession of a venomous snake will face a Class 4 misdemeanor. The ordinance change adopted by the County Board does not permit existing pet snakes to be “grandfathered in” and kept by their owners.
A national organization representing the rights of exotic animals held open the possibility of a lawsuit, saying the board's action amounts to government taking property without compensation.
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RE: Arlington hearing video
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by atwageman on May 20, 2008
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All can say after watching the video is that Arlington moved the the hobby underground. Also I thought Nick handled himself very well considering he was surrounded by unenlightened people.
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RE: Arlington hearing video
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by 23bms on May 20, 2008
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"Arlington moved the the hobby underground."
This, in the proverbial nutshell, is what these people, blinkered MORONS that they are, do not understand. Do you want to move the hobby underground so you can NEVER know what is where? If so, this is how to do it. Did prohibition stop drinking? Hardly. It compounded the problem and produced a decades long nation wide crime wave as well. Millions of otherwise law abiding citizens became 'criminals'.
Granted, herps are not beer and whiskey and certainly don't have the same following, but the same dynamics will result - ARE resulting in every state that has a ban.
An acquaintance of mine, a former economics professor at Princeton University who subsequently purchased a seat on the NYSE and did very well, once commented that ALL people can be reduced to basically two emotions - FEAR and GREED. Carried to an extreme, the former outweighs the latter. By creating enough FEAR, a legislator can do ANYTHING.
FEAR is the fundamental strategy of the AR TERRORISTS (that is, if fact, what they are). The AR TERRORISTS are what are driving these bans. Sadly, in our politically correct, progressive, backboneless world, no government entity will do what what must be done to stop them.
jrb
[With slightly elevated blood pressure. Time to crawl back into my hole under the bridge.]
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