Recently, Congress has proposed two bills that, if passed, could do some major damage to the pet industry:
1. S 373: Python Ban
This bill is brought out because of the problem Florida is having with Burmese Pythons. They want to ban not just these snakes, but any and every python as pets nationwide. This is just an easy way out that will devastate thousands of people who breed pythons for a living and hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people who own at least 1 python (many snake keepers usually have 1-3 pythons).
2. HR 669: Non-Native Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act
The bill states that all non-native wildlife will be banned as pets unless they are on a Congress-made approved list. Yet the bill is very vague: it states that all unapproved non-native animals will be BANNED. This includes most reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, and fish! Even the "cute and cuddly" would be included because most aren't native to the USA wilderness.
Here's an example of just a few animals that could (and most likely would) make it in the "unapproved" list:
Bearded Dragons
Green Iguanas
Hamsters
Guinea Pigs
Some rabbit species
Goldfish
Cichlids (sp?)
Boas
Pythons (again with the pythons?!)
Betas
Fire-Bellied Toas
Leopard Geckos
Ferrets
All Saltwater fish
Cockateils (sp?)
Parakeets
And the list goes on and on.