Now this thread gets entertaining!
... strict rules regarding the ownership of many species ... bad apples ...doing what they do regardless ...suffer for absolutely nothing...shipping roaches illegally that day! -Ian
Every so often I like to speak on the other side of the topic,
not to antagonize anyone but to promote a full perspective and conversation. It can be fun to sometimes "take the other side".
".... the bad apples don't care. They are still going to be doing what they do regardless of the penalties."
Sad but very true.
Let me play the devils advocate in this thread:
However, further implementation of the regulations eventually makes it difficult for them to not get caught, and the government officials are aware that it is at the expense of innocent hobbiest (much to thier regret). The regulations are not to needlessly punish the legitamate hobbiests and they are open to suggestions.
Despite this, nobody has come up with a better idea or legislative tool that can stem the flow of illegal wildlife and better the abilities of the legitimate hobbiest. It is a very complicated issue to address. Add to that the lack of efforts of the hobby in general to vote, or nominate elected officials based on thier views, or petition elected officials to put into place bills that better regulate the hobby in favor of the hobbiest and what you get in my opinion is reptile, bug, bird, or whatever hobbiest that complain or moan at the last minute but nobody ever takes a pre-emptive lead.
What needs to happen is to have wildlife-related hobbies band together and form an organization/active body/legal entity that makes our hobbies an important issue to elected officials. I think the reality of that happening is slim to none so my choice is to just live within the system.
"In all honesty the people watching this site and others like it on the internet put way too much time into nailing down where the next rogue shipment of roaches are coming from. Probably a good reason why a bunch of terrorists just waltzed into a couple airports, hi jacked 4 planes, and flew them into a few buildings killing thousands of innocent people. But at least no one was shipping roaches illegally that day! "
Now this statement is a few cans of worms opened in and unto itself.
To be fair: the aforementioned "people watching this site" have no training or abilities that can help with anything other than to protect US native wildlife and crops. So tracking down rogue roach shipments, imported millipedes, giant snails, etc., is the job they can get and the job they can do. I am sure, Ian, that there are jobs you can get and others you can't based on the skill set you personally have, right?
As a caucasian American who appreciates America, who has spent time in Muslim America-hating communities in foreign lands, I can personally say that "why a bunch of terrorists just waltzed into a couple airports, hi jacked 4 planes, and flew them into a few buildings killing thousands of innocent people" was because of two reasons.
One, our own constitution prohibits our government from being everywhere all the time where they may need to be to identify and prevent these situations from occurring as well as not enough people choose to go to work for the government to help enforce what our constitution does provide for. (undermanned)
Second, the terrorists that attack the USA hate us for one fundamental reason: We have a tendancy to disrespect each other. Road rage, gang wars, political mud-slinging, female celebrities showing off thier lack of underware for attention in the media, reality show hoopla and so on and so on. That's it. If America would learn to develope peaceful relationships within itself, we would not have the terrorist issues we face.
Lastly, on 9/11 roaches probably were shipped illegally along with over 40,000 other packages from unknown destinations carrying non-permitted wildlife.
