Called to testify Thursday and need help.

[razeraze]

Here is the original post I made when this story first hit:
Prejudices' ugly head

Now the Attorney has asked me to help prove reptiles are companion animals and should be entitled to the same rights as domestic animals. The A.S.P.C.A. was little help because they do not want reptiles classified as pets or any exotics for that matter, so these reptile communities are our only chance to help fight this racism against reptiles and exotics. If you have any well written statements, are a member of a reptile community that can show popularity of reptiles, or can help in any way please contact me. Perhaps some MODS can give me a number of active members for the online communities as well.

Hopefully I can get the judge to rule equality for reptiles and we can send another blow to the A.S.P.C.A and PETA.

[mongoose5971]

Just read the original article...that's horrible. Who made the decision that it's more or less cruel to torture an animal if it's a pet or not anyway? Just more proof that humans don't value animals' lives at all...only if the animal's life was important to a human. Crazy. Good luck with everything. Maybe we can get a bunch of redtail members to submit cute pictures of them and their kids with their reptiles.

[razeraze]

They want to know that the people who keep these animals consider them pets. These animals are not livestock or breeding stock which many have little emotion tied to, but actual pets. Animals we love and cherish and treat as well as any cat or dog. They also would like to know the popularity of responsible reptile keeping. Societies with many members talk from around the world about their passion and love of reptiles. We have to prove that it is time reptiles and reptile keepers get recognized for the pet/owner relationship.
Please do not turn this into a crazy anthropomorphic post, the last thing I need is a ton of love letters written by owners from their "pet's voice". Dress up pictures will also make us look foolish because reptiles are not at that level of acceptance (many dog and cat owners are looked at funny when they "dress" their pet.), this is to get our foot in the door and bring to light joys reptile keeping on a personal level and not a laboratory or zoo level.

Numbers of keepers and keeper pet relations or stories will help me determine what I will relay to the judge.

[razeraze]

This case is another reason I can't waste time bickering about husbandry. I have been following and actively pursuing this case for months and now that I am going to be able to help; and possibly change how reptiles are classified by pet ownership, I need to focus and not be distracted so please keep this post focused on the case. I have worked too hard to let this chance fall through my fingers by sounding like an unprepared idiot.

[Lucille]

I would run polls on here, Fauna and KS in order to have a good turnout of answers by Thursday. Most reptile owners will not give you 'baby talk' answers so I would not even warn that response out, because you may lose other responses.

If I were to run such a poll, it would look something like this:

;I (Raze) have been asked by an attorney in an animal cruelty case to provide data showing that reptiles are more like companion animals such as dogs and cats, and less like animals with less legal protection such as food animals or pest insects and the like.
This information will be used to help nail the perpetrator in a cruelty case (cite case here with link to article).
Please choose the response below that best describes how you view reptiles:

1) They are mere chattel and their feelings and pain do not matter
2) While they are different than cats and dogs there is no question that many people regard them highly as pets and take considerable effort in providing excellent habitats and food as well as spending significant time with these pets.
3) They do in fact rise to the level of companion pets such as cats and dogs as evidenced by their owners care and affection toward them.

When people answer such a poll they may well provide histories of their own reptile pets and how they feel about them along with the poll response. This is what you can take with you to your attorney, either printing out the poll or even more effectively linking through an email so that the attorney can get an idea of the size of these sites and the varied people who come together to talk about their reptiles.

Just my 2 cents.

[fishmommy]

the key with testimony is to draw comparisons to accepted standards of practice.

so, you need to look up the definition of 'pet' and 'companion animal', and things along those lines. Then, you need to draw a direct comparison and prove that reptiles meet each of those standards or characteristics.

[Lucille]

Which state is the case in? you would need to use that state's definition.
But I feel that in addition a poll may help strengthen your case because it will evidence how more people feel.

[razeraze]

The case is here in Illinois.
The poll is not what I am looking for because I will be stating my testimony, and not how many people said yes or no to "companion animals" polls. What would help is to hear from communities such as this and get an idea of just how many reptile keepers there are, as well as local reptile adoption centers, rescues and herpetological societ