Update: Help keep Tarantulas Legal in NM

The issue has made the local media. Click the link below to read the article. Be sure to contact the NMDGF and let them know what you think about this issue.

ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: State's proposed rules will require permits for certain imported animals and ban others

Here is the full article:
 Tuesday, June 01, 2010

State's proposed rules will require permits for certain imported animals and ban others

By Deborah Baker
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
          SANTA FE — The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish's new proposed regulations for bringing exotic pets into the state have some hobbyists and store owners squawking.
        The rules, which are still being refined, would require individuals and businesses to get permits from the department when they import certain non-native animals, birds and fish from other states. Parakeets, finches, frogs and most turtles are on the list.
        That's not much different from current state law, according to the agency.
        The problem is, the permit regulations in place now are widely ignored — many pet owners may not know they exist — and rarely enforced.
        So the proposed rules have come as a shock to pet lovers who could now have to pay a $25 fee and submit paperwork in order to add another critter to the aquarium.
        "There hasn't been permits and all this sort of stuff up until now, and that's why people are upset about it," said Garth Tietjen, a gecko breeder in Los Alamos. "There's a lot of fear here, that Fish and Game are going to take over their animals."
        Among other species for which permits will be required: some nonvenomous snakes, saltwater fish, corals, tropical fish, frogs, geckos and most alligators.
        The Washington, D.C.-based Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council says New Mexico's importation process — both current and proposed — is "overly restrictive, cumbersome and costly" and may be the most "pet unfriendly" regulation in the United States.
        Particularly troubling to critics has been the new, 61-page species importation list developed by the department.
        It divides species into those that don't require permits, those that do, and those that can't be imported by the general public.
        In the prohibited category, for example, are venomous snakes such as cobras and timber rattlers, poison dart frogs, Komodo dragons, some alligators, crocodiles and invasive carp.
        But also in the banned category on the agency's list were some exotic birds that pet store owners say don't pose any threat and should continue to be able to be imported.
        The department has been consulting with critics who say the list is incomplete and subjective. Chris Chadwick, who oversees permits for the agency, says there will be changes to the list.
        "What we don't want to do is get in the way of people's activities and businesses. That's not the intent here," Chadwick said.
        But the current rule basically isn't working for anybody, he also said.
        "What we're trying to do is develop something that will actually work."
        A draft of the proposed rules will be presented to the state Game Commission for discussion Thursday at its meeting in Gallup. The draft is expected to be updated, and the commission could make the new rules final in July.
        The law, which dates at least to the 1960s, and the regulations that implement it are intended to protect people from dangerous animals and protect game animals, birds and fish from invasive species and infectious diseases.
        Under the proposed regulations, livestock and domesticated animals — dogs, cats, hamsters, gerbils and many tropical freshwater fish, for example — won't need permits when they're imported.
        And animals already in the state won't be required to have permits, according to the agency.
        "I have not been compliant with the importation laws because they're unreasonably expensive," said Heather Angevine, owner of Subterranean Jungle in Albuquerque, which she describes as a "one-stop reptile shop."
        "I can't afford them and make a profit at my business," she said.
        Under current law, for example, Angevine should be paying a $300 fee for each shipment she gets. The proposed rules would allow her to buy a $300 annual permit to import an unlimited number of reptiles.
        While that's more than she's paying now, it's manageable, she said.
        Hobbyists and breeders who buy animals in small quantities — and who also haven't been following the current law — could feel the changes even more.
        Someone who wants to buy a gecko over the Internet, for example, would be charged $25 for the required permit, under the proposed rule.
        The permit application would have to include a "confinement and containment plan" — which Chadwick says could be as simple as reporting that you have an aquarium — and a veterinarian's certificate from the supplier, saying the animal is healthy or the place that supplied it is disease-free.
        That could mean an additional fee for the buyer, although Chadwick said the department may keep a list of approved suppliers, eliminating the need for the certificates.
        The department is proposing permit fees of $25 for up to five animals, $75 for six to 99, and $300 for more than 100. Fish would require an annual fee of $25.
        Angevine and others are working on a proposal to add more reptiles to the state's list of species that can be imported, so pet-store owners aren't caught short when customers request something specific.
        "It's painfully obvious that the state is going to do something, and I would much rather be on the side that helps decide what we're allowed to have," she said.
        But some critics worry that the new regulations will put the state on a path to even greater restrictions.
        "The future of pets is the real concern here," said Tietjen, the Los Alamos breeder.
        "Are they going to curb some species? Are they not going to allow some species? It seems like sort of a moving target," he said.
        The commission is taking public comment on the proposed rules through its July 8 meeting.
        "I anticipate pretty significant changes as we move forward. ... People have expressed concerns, and there's room to make it better," Chadwick said.

Contact information for NM Dept of Game and Fish:
The DIRECTOR’S SPECIES IMPORTATION LIST
NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF GAME and FISH
LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION
SPECIAL USE PERMITS PROGRAM
P.O. BOX 25112
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 87504
505-476-8064 Fax 505-476-8133
Letitia.Mee@state.nm.us