Top 5 Reason YOU Should Be a USARK Member!

By Justin Smith

“The United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK) is a science, education and conservation-based advocacy for the responsible private ownership of, and trade in reptiles and amphibians. We endorse caging standards, sound husbandry, escape prevention protocols, and an integrated approach to vital conservation issues. Our goal is to facilitate cooperation between government agencies, the scientific community, and the private sector in order to produce policy proposals that will effectively address important husbandry and conservation issues. The health of these animals, public safety and maintaining ecological integrity are our primary concerns.”

I’m sure most of us in the hobby are aware of the current proposed legislation in South Carolina, Florida, and New York. While legislation in some form or another pops up in various states on a regular basis, I think it’s the recent proposals that seem to have brought the hobby/industry into a more cohesive front. So what better time to give my top 5 reasons for becoming a USARK member? USARK is our best defense when it comes to protecting this hobby we love from strict overreach that is often based off junk science. With that said, let’s jump into it.

1. USARK Memberships aren’t expensive!

Currently, membership options are $5 a month, $40 a year, or $20 a year for students. Do we really have an excuse to not give $5 a month to one of the only organizations helping us? At that rate it comes to a whopping .17 cents a day in a 30-day month and $60 for a year. Now let’s do some simple math. Say 10,000 people sign up for that monthly $5 membership, that adds up to 50k a month and in a year thats 600 THOUSAND dollars! Keep in mind there are roughly 5 to 6 million people keeping reptiles on some level in the U.S. There is a reason they say there’s strength in numbers. The more people signed up for the basic membership, the easier USARK can fight the legislative battles on our behalf. Also, fighting legislation isn’t cheap!

2. Act like it’s ALL on the table.

Sure, Tegus are the species in the hot seat at the moment. But whether you keep them or not we as a whole need to treat this issue like it’s the species you ARE keeping. If it were up to most of the general public, I believe that we wouldn’t be allowed to keep most of the species we have in the industry even if it’s something as innocuous as a ball python. The odds are not in our favor. So yeah it’s Tegus today but something else tomorrow.

3. Dodging bullets.

We see on social media just how many laws are proposed that would affect the everyday herpetoculurist and even the people who breed or operate storefronts. Now imagine where we would all be if we didn’t have USARK to fight on our behalf? If you think that Phil Goss and the gang aren’t putting in incredible amounts of work on a constant basis then you’re severely mistaken. There have been multiple states where legal battles would have been lost had it not been for USARK.

4. An uphill battle.

Let’s be real here. When these proposed laws/bans crop up I think it’s safe to say that the people heading legislation have their minds made up going into the process of passing a bill. Regardless of if the information they are basing these decisions on is based in fact or fiction, most have already come to the conclusion that certain species are a “danger” or “problem” in some way or another. Not only do we have to deal with being outnumbered in terms of people who could care less about these animals we love, but we also have a severe bias already set in the minds of people and groups who want these laws in place. If we aren’t supporting USARK then we’re ALL at risk of losing the ability to keep the species we enjoy.

5. Looking down the road.

It’s 2021, say a bill gets passed that bans pretty much all exotic species. Bummer right? Say you have a child that enjoys these animals just as much as you do. Who’s to say that by the time they are older and wanted to pursue the hobby more seriously they won’t be able to because USARK didn’t have enough support in the form of $5 monthly membership! Even if you don’t have kids there’s plenty of kids in “the next generation” that I think we would all love to see pursue the hobby or even the very species you are passionate about!

We’re all in this boat, having to keep it afloat.

This whole situation is almost a parallel to voting when election time rolls around. There will always be that set of people that think their vote doesn’t matter so they just don’t go to the polls. The issue here is the ones that think that are one of thousands of people who also don’t think their vote or voice doesn’t matter. Just like that $5 membership, it all adds up.

Thanks

Join USARK at this link – https://usark.org/memberships/