Club News & Events:
Club Meeting and Informal Talk
MRAC will be meeting on (to be announced) at the:
Maidstone CSSC Club
Recreation Close
Maidstone
Kent ME14 5AZ
19:30 for an 20:00 start.
MRAC Members-
Non-
E:mail mrac@sky.com for more details
Up the Anti!
As you may be aware, the hobby has recently attracted the attention of certain animal
rights activist groups. These groups have been trying to close down the Breeders
meetings with a claim of unlawful trading. These claims are made direct to the local
authorities and the venue managers where the event is to take place. They usually
do this one week before the event, so as to limit the time that the organisers have
to counter the claim.
To date, the animal rights agencies have been unsuccessful
(despite claims to the contrary) and the events have gone ahead without problems.
There is an explanation as to why these complaints are failing; it is simply because
the Private Breeders meetings are NOT illegal. However, this fact does not seem
to stop the animal rights agencies from making their claims.
With this in mind, I would say that there has been no better time for you to actively support your local reptile club and to attend as many of these breeders meetings as possible.
There will be a full report in the upcoming news letter on the subject of Reptile Breeders Meetings, the animal rights activists the facts and the myths.
The show must go on!
Despite the best efforts of the APA (Animal Protection Agency) and the IAR (International Animal Rescue), The Essex Reptile & Amphibian Club private breeders meeting went ahead as scheduled (contrary to the claims and misinformation found on the IAR website) and the club even report a record attendance. This is the fourth such meeting that the APA have unsuccessfully tried to stop, but all they appear to have achieved so far is to create a great Publicity campaign in favour of the event.
The meeting once again provided the chance to meet up with the private breeders and see a great variety of Captive Bred Reptiles and Amphibians. Surplus livestock was available to purchase as well everything necessary to keep them in their ideal environment. These meetings are invaluable to the hobby and indeed to the conservation of many reptile and amphibian species. Well done to ERAC for hosting the meeting, and well done to the Federation of British Herpetologists (FBH) for once again being there to offer advice and guidance.
