Current Proposal To Outlaw Nanday Conures In Pennsylvania:

[JGMAP]

I assume this is true. please cross post
LEGISLATIVE ALERT - HEARING 1/27/08

THE ISSUE - CURRENT PROPOSAL TO OUTLAW NANDAY CONURES IN PENNSYLVANIA:

Hearing will be held 1/27/08 - 1/29/08
Pennsylvania Game Commission Headquarters
2001 Elmerton Avenue
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9797
(717) 787-4250
pgccomments@state.pa.us

There is a proposal presently pending before the Pennsylvania Game
Commission to outlaw the possession of the Nanday conure. If
passed, this law will not "grandfather" any Nandays currently kept as
pets. The birds will become illegal. They will be subject to
confiscation to be destroyed as pests. Quakers already are illegal
in Pennsylvania.

A link to the PA Code section that they propose to amend is at the
bottom of this alert.

This proposal which is now before the Game Commission seeks to amend
PA law to prohibit the "importation, possession, sale, and release"
of Nanday conures in Pennsylvania "in response to human health/safety
and wildlife habitat health purposes". Monk (Quaker) parakeets are
already prohibited. There is no "grandfather" clause in this
proposal - that generally means that Nandays already in PA would also
become illegal and subject to confiscation and euthanasia as pests if
this proposal becomes law.


ACTION TO BE TAKEN:

The Game Commission office will accept public comments at their
meeting which starts on Sunday January 27th and carries through to
January 28 and 29. A link to the Agenda for that meeting is at the
end of this email.

If you oppose the current proposal in Pennsylvania you need to ACT
NOW to defeat this proposal.

The Executive Director and staff of the Game Commission "recommend
the Commission approve these changes". Given that recommendation,
unless voters in PA step up at this meeting to oppose this proposal,
it will probably pass. Your "job" is to let your government know
what you want. Once a law such as this is enacted it is almost
impossible to get it repealed. Now it the time to act.

You (and any other bird folks you can round up) can appear at the
Game Commission meeting to present comments in opposition to the
proposal - preferably on Sunday the 27th so that you are sure to be
given time to speak - but they may delay you to the 28th or 29th, so
be prepared for that. Be prepared to submit your comments in
writing as well as orally, in case you don't get the chance to
speak. Try to keep your written comments to one page.

Keep in mind these officials are just people doing a job. Don't be
afraid to appear at the meeting and testify. Address them
politely, as human beings, and you should be able to make your points.

Generally people are given a few minutes, maybe 5 max, to make their
points. Each speaker should be prepared ahead of time, with a
short, focused, businesslike presentation, which they can read
aloud. Be sure the presentations focus on the following two points
(once you make those points you can let them know you are a human who
owns and loves her pet birds, but that shouldn't be the main focus).

The two points the Game Commission will be focusing on are the claims
that Nandays threaten human health and safety and wildlife
habitat. You need to be prepared to negate both of those
claims. Keep in mind, if Nandays can now be claimed to be a threat
to human health and safety, any parrot or other bird can be added
later. Same for the wildlife habitat health claim. Do your
homework and prepare yourself with documentation to counter at least
these two claims.

Be sure those who testify for your position are well dressed and act
professionally - I can assure you that the proponents of this bill
will not be appearing in T shirts. Do not go into "I love my pet
and this law isn't fair for my pets......" The Game Commission is
not concerned with our love of our pets - they are charged with the
responsibility of protecting the wildlife of PA, and unless you can
rationally argue that Nandays don't threaten human health and safety
or wildlife habitat in PA, this law is likely to pass.

Written supporting documentation from the proponents which shows that
Nandays threaten human health and safety or wildlife habitat in PA
(if in fact they have any, other than their claims) was not available
when I inquired. You can ask for a copy of their documentation at
the hearing so that you can be given time to read, evaluate, and
respond to it. Ask the Commission to give you a copy or that they
mail it to you so that you will have time to address their
claims. Ask the Commission not to adopt the proposal at this
meeting, or at least to delay any vote to a future meeting to give
you and other opponents of the proposal time to read and respond to
any of the Commission's materials that support their proposal.
Remember, this bill has to be voted on by the Game Commission if it
is to become law, and a vote delayed is a vote not taken.

I would expect the "human health and safety" claims to include claims
that Nandays transmit psittacosis (chlamydia) and bird flu, and
perhaps Exotic Newcastles Disease (END). Be prepared for those
claims. Psittacosis, while transmissible to humans from birds, is
treatable with antibiotics both for birds and humans, and is not
usually life threatening. Parrots have not been shown to transmit
bird flu, and the dreaded "worldwide pandemic of bird flu" has not
come to pass - in the 10 years or so it has been circulating in
Southeast Asia only about 100 people have died - that is not a
worldwide pandemic. While parrots, like many other species of
birds, can catch END (usually from infected poultry), there is no
scientific data published that shows that parrots have been the
source of any END outbreak in the United States.

You have a job to do (protecting Nandays in PA) and I assume you can
do it. Get others to go with you, and if you present a united
front, you may be able to stop this proposal.

For those who can appear and testify - do so.

For those who can't appear, submit written comments before 1/27/08.


SUPPORTING LINKS AND DOCUMENTS:

Existing Pennsylvania Code this proposal would amend: (monk parakeets
already prohibited)
See - Section 58 - Recreation, Part III - Game Commission, Chapter 137
Browsing the Pennsylvania Code

The Agenda for the 1/27 - 1/29 meeting is at this link:
Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency: Board of Game Commissioners to meet on Jan. 27, 28 and 29

The contact information for the Game Commission is
Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency: Contact Us

Let me know if you have any questions.

Genny Wall
AFA Legislative VP
gennygem2@aol.com

"The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions
favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the
significance of man's spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his
intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure and
satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought
to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions
and their sensations. They conferred, as against the government, the
right to be let alone - the most comprehensive of rights and the
right most valued by civilized men. To protect that right, every
unjustifiable intrusion by the government upon the privacy of the
individual, whatever the means employed, must be deemed a violation
of the Fourth Amendment. And the use, as evidence in a criminal
proceeding, of facts ascertained by such intrusion must be deemed a
violation of the Fifth."
--Justice Louis Brandeis OLMSTEAD v. U.S., 277 U.S. 438 (1928)

[birdlady49]

That's pretty scary if it's true, especially since they're not even allowing grandfathering! I hope others from the Keystone State will be able to add to this thread!

[DarwinTheSun]

That is scary. If I lived in PA I would be there! What a bunch of fools.

[CornerCage]

You don't have to live there to send an email. This concerns us ALL. It starts with nandays in PA, and if they gain this foothold you better believe they'll use it to sytematically come after the rest of us.

[Kevin]

I think if people stand up grandfathering is a definite possibility and a likely outcome.

[birdsnreps]

thats ridiculous, ANY bird can transmit any of those diseases, how dumb can some people be

[anengineerswife]

Originally Posted by DarwinTheSun

That is scary. If I lived in PA I would be there! What a bunch of fools.

I am from PA and if I would have known about this before we came back on the 4th of January I would have gone into the Game Commission office which is no more than 30mins where I am from. I am going to try to make some phone calls today to see if I can find out more about the whole thing. I think this is rediculous, I lived there my whole like growing up and have never seen a nanday out in the open anywhere around there and I have been from one side of the state to the other and to the top and bottom of the state, guess I am just blind.

[anengineerswife]

This is what I found on their agenda

G. Amend 58 Pa. Code, §137.1.
Commentary: Currently, §137.1 requires a person importing lawfully acquired wildlife,
or parts thereof, for menagerie, educational or scientific purposes to
obtain an importation permit, but does not require an importation permit
for exotic wildlife dealer or exotic wildlife possession permit holders. In
an effort to create consistency in the regulations and increase the
Commission’s capabilities to address wildlife epidemiological concerns,
the Commission is proposing to amend §137.1 (relating to importation,
sale and release of certain wildlife) to specifically require propagation,
exotic wildlife dealer and exotic wildlife possession permit holders to
acquire an importation permit prior to importing any wildlife into this
Commonwealth. The Commission is also proposing to amend §137.1 to
prohibit the importation, possession, sale and release of all non-human
primates and the Conure-Nanday, sometimes referred to as the Blackhooded
Parakeet, in response to human health/safety and wildlife habitat
health purposes.

Some of this is crossed off on their pdf but didn't transfer when I pasted.

(7) [Threatened, endangered or injurious. An animal, bird or egg of a
bird listed by the Commonwealth or the United States Department of the Interior as threatened,
endangered or injurious.] The order Primates. All families of non-human primates.
(8) [The Monk Parakeet. Myiopsitts Monachus, sometimes referred to
as the Quaker Parakeet or Gray-headed Parakeet.] Threatened, endangered or injurious. An
animal, bird or egg of a bird listed by the Commonwealth or the United States Department of the
Interior as threatened, endangered or injurious.
(9) [Game or wildlife taken alive from the wild, except the
Commission may import wildlife taken from the wild for enhancement of the Commonwealth's
wild fauna.] In the family Psittacidae. The Monk Parakeet, Myiopsitts monachus, sometimes
referred to as the Quaker Parakeet or Gray-headed Parakeet, and the Conure-Nanday, Nandayus
nenday, sometimes referred to as the Black-hooded Parakeet.
(10) [Game or wildlife held in captivity or captive bred in another state
or nation.] Game or wildlife taken alive from the wild, except the Commission may import
wildlife taken from the wild for enhancement of the Commonwealth's wild fauna.
(11) Game or wildlife held in captivity or captive bred in another state
or nation.
* * * * *


Here is the pdf file it is on page 42 and 43
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/lib/p...genda_2008.pdf

[atalantae]

So in plain words.. what is it saying??

I know I am dumb.

[anengineerswife]

I am not to sure either, I still have to call them today and see what is going on for sure.