Years ago I said this draft was a trojan horse..
Trojan horse for what?
There are that many keepers in NSW (and it will never happen) that even if the govt said 'righto, no more reptile keeping', they would be faced with major unrest.
I am still having trouble working out what the problem is, but all my stuff complies, so maybe thats it.
I wasn't part of the 'advisory committee' so I can look at this COP from an unbiased veiwpoint, and to be honest, it seems to me like they have done it in quite an ok manner. We were all given the chance to have input, they met with the experts and the COP really is only going to make life miserable for people who are mistreating their animals.
This reptile industry is a classic. On one hand, no one wants pet shops selling herps, but then they complain that you can't buy one in a shop, so the bill gets passed, with pretty tight restrictions too, and the govt thinks ok we need something here to try and make sure it fits with EVERYONE. The pet shop industry, the commercial breeders, the small breeders and the keepers of one animal. Would we rather no COP and be allowed to keep our animals like they do in third world countries?
Yeah theres a few bugs to iron out, but chill out, it's the govt, try running a building company, it makes this industry look like a picnic on a sunny day with pretty butterflies and daisies.
The only issue I have is that if you have a COP enforcable by law for native reptiles, then you should have one for cats and dogs.