For Immediate Release:
March 4, 2024
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Baton Rouge, La. – This morning, PETA submitted a proper remark a few lack of area needed to permit reptiles to stretch out to their full size to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) following the company’s request for suggestions on proposed modifications to laws regarding reptiles and amphibians. PETA helps the LWFC’s work to extend protections for the state’s native wildlife and forestall the introduction of invasive species however, the group argues, the housing necessities for captive snakes are in pressing want of being up to date to replicate the scientific consensus that snake enclosures needs to be not less than so long as the snake.
© iStock.com / Natt Boonyatecha
According to quite a few peer-reviewed research, as a way to be mentally and bodily wholesome, snakes held in captivity should be capable to totally stretch out their our bodies and snakes who can’t stretch out really feel confused and expertise well being issues, together with accidents, joint illness, constipation, and weight problems. The LWFC’s proposed regulation solely requires that snakes’ enclosures be three-quarters of the snake’s size on the longest facet and a 3rd of their size on the shorter facet and in peak—an unscientific and inhumane proposition.
“Snakes feel pain, fear, and stress—just as cats, dogs, and humans do—and confining them to cramped enclosures where they can’t even stretch out or express their natural behavior is cruel,” says PETA Foundation General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs Lori Kettler. “PETA urges Louisiana officials to follow the science and at least do the bare minimum for captive snakes by requiring that they be housed in enclosures at least as long as their bodies.”
PETA’s remark helps the LWFC’s proposed revisions prohibiting the discharge of reptiles and amphibians and not using a allow and the possession and sale of prohibited and restricted species—together with inexperienced iguanas and Burmese pythons—who can turn out to be invasive and threaten native species. PETA additionally applauds the proposed transfer to ban “organized events that wantonly or willfully waste native amphibians or reptiles,” together with the mass slaughter of snakes on the Lake Providence Snake Rodeo.
PETA—whose motto reads, partially, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—factors out that Every Animal Is Someone and provides free Empathy Kits for individuals who want a lesson in kindness. For extra info, please go to PETA.org or comply with the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
