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4 J. Int'l Wildlife L. & Pol'y 315 (2001)
Reptiles as Pets: An Examination of the Trade in Live Reptiles in the United States

handle is hein.journals/intwlp4 and id is 323 raw text is: A  Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, 4: 315-317 (2001)
M    @ 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the United States.
Joseph Franke and Teresa M. Telecky. Reptiles as
Pets: An Examination of the Trade in Live Reptiles in
the United States. The Humane Society of the United
States, Washington D.C. 2001. 146 pp.
(paperback). $10 *
Reptiles have become immensely popular as pets in the United States, and some esti-
mates of the value of annual domestic trade in reptiles, amphibians, and related products
approach two billion dollars. Unfortunately, traditional notions that reptiles are somehow
less 'aware' than birds and mammals have often resulted in neglect and abuse of captive
reptiles, and legislation pertaining to the humane treatment and shipping of these animals
lags far behind protection afforded homeotherms in the pet trade. In response to concerns
that the burgeoning reptile trade is fraught with animal abuse, high mortality rates, and ille-
gal trade, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) recently commissioned a study
of this trade. The authors review a wealth of data and anecdotes, and conclude that reptiles
should not be kept by the general public for ethical, health-related, and safety issues.
The book is inarguably a gold mine of data; 87 pages of text are accompanied by ap-
proximately 200 citations encompassing refereed, popular, and grey literature, followed
by 46 pages of tabulated data. Textual errors are remarkably few (examples: data are
repeatedly considered a singular noun; page 3 Chassey should be Chassy; page 90
R.C. Van Loben Sels incorrectly abbreviated as R.C.V.L. Sels). Photographs are of
varying quality but succeed in depicting the inhumane conditions experienced by many
reptiles during capture, shipment, and subsequent captive care.
Franke and Telecky organize their subject matter into five chapters. Chapter 1 attempts
to quantify the live reptile marketplace in the U.S. but is complicated by the fact that the
domestic trade is largely unregulated. Chapter 2 tackles imports, and Chapter 3 examines
both export and domestic trade. Chapter 4 addresses retail and post-purchase husbandry of
reptiles, while Chapter 5 highlights the illegal reptile trade.
Some aspects of the pet reptile trade are especially interesting (or startling), even to a
herpetologist. For example, data from the Centers for Disease Control show that there
are about 93,000 annual cases of reptile-related salmonellosis in humans, including a few
deaths every year. Up to 90% of wild-caught reptiles die between initial capture and the
end of the first year of captivity, largely due to unwillingness among animal dealers and
pet owners to spend adequate funds for maintenance of animals purchased for a low price.

* Also available at www.hsus.org.

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