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Saw this on CNN....thoughts?

syzygy

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
121
Location
Texas
http://www.greatbigstory.com/storie...ot-a-pet?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool
http://www.greatbigstory.com/storie...ot-a-pet?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool
I knew that 15-20 years ago this was a problem, but had thought that because the B.smithi was easy enough to breed in captivity and is so commonly available as slings and juvis that this was no longer an issue.

I hadn't really thought that much about it, but I'm in Texas and know that there are any number of pet stores where I could walk in with a T and walk out with cash or credit. Given that, it's not hard to conceive that any B.smithi's they stock could have been living under a cactus in Mexico just 72 hours prior.
 

Psyrocke

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Messages
577
Location
Massachusetts
They just want clicks. Tarantula keeping is NOT illegal every where, so that description is just click bait.

I am not a huge person of knowledge on any Brachypelma, but it seems far fetched to me, especially with that exceptionally misleading title.
 

timc

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Messages
671
Location
Delco, PA
Honestly, the problem is that as long as people will spend money on spiders that they don't know where they came from you're always going to have people taking them from their natural habitats. i think it's the buyer's responsibility to ask about the animal they are about to buy, but then again there's about 200,000,000 morons in America who don't really care where the spider may have come from. It's the same with puppy mills; you have real animal lovers who try to put a stop to the horrible conditions those dogs come from, and then you have a majority of people that can't be bothered to look at where the animals come from and blindly open their wallets to fund animal cruelty. It's all about the money. If people will spend on animals that come from terrible conditions or from their natural habitats the problems will perpetuate themselves forever.
 

syzygy

Active Member
3 Year Member
Messages
121
Location
Texas
Interesting. I'd not even caught that she used the expression "illegal pet trade" when i watched the first time. I do know that it would be illegal for me to cross the border and attempt to bring some back.

These were added to CITES in the 80's when it was believed that they were being exported to the US and Asia in large numbers for the pet trade. At that time you could go into almost any pet store and they would have a few decent sized B.smith for $10 or so. Now that same spider could run $200+. I guess I was curious if anybody (particularly those here that have gotten into breeding) have heard if the current values were leading to a resurgence of this practice. This video seems to imply as much.
 

Psyrocke

Well-Known Member
3 Year Member
Messages
577
Location
Massachusetts
Interesting. I'd not even caught that she used the expression "illegal pet trade" when i watched the first time. I do know that it would be illegal for me to cross the border and attempt to bring some back.

These were added to CITES in the 80's when it was believed that they were being exported to the US and Asia in large numbers for the pet trade. At that time you could go into almost any pet store and they would have a few decent sized B.smith for $10 or so. Now that same spider could run $200+. I guess I was curious if anybody (particularly those here that have gotten into breeding) have heard if the current values were leading to a resurgence of this practice. This video seems to imply as much.
It isn't IN the video itself that I know of (I did not watch) but in the description below the video. And yes, bringing across borders without proper notifications and paperwork is, but keeping them is not, and not all pet trade (such as shipping in the US) of tarantulas is illegal. She just broadly says illegal pet trade in the description.
 

kormath

Well-Known Member
1,000+ Post Club
3 Year Member
Messages
3,565
Location
Idaho
pretty lame story/video there, doesn't give much info or facts to back up her theories. But if you hear it on the internet it has to be true.... :D
 

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