05/18/2023
"Some amount of compromise was reached in a House committee as DeFuniak Springs Republican Rep. Shane Abbott brought an amendment to apply the venomous reptile legislation only to handling of nonnative species.
HB 1161 sets the penalties for knowingly releasing, or letting escape through gross negligence, a nonnative reptile of concern to a Level Three violation. Knowingly releasing or letting escape through gross negligence a venomous reptile would be a Level Four violation.
Florida’s six native venomous reptiles are all snakes — the pygmy rattlesnake, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the timber rattlesnake, cottonmouths, copperheads and the eastern coral snake."
"Reptile keepers expressed concern that lack of a nonnative specification with the venomous reptile language would put needed work at risk. Abbott brought an amendment in the House Infrastructure Strategies Committee to clarify the law, adding the nonnative specification.
“Venomous snakes play a valuable role in the ecology of Florida’s last remaining wild regions,” Daniel Parker, an environmental scientist and formerly of UCF, said at an earlier committee hearing. “Research on the ecology of native venomous snake species is necessary to understand the ecosystem as a whole. Without exceptions in the language of the bill, that valuable research is threatened.”
Level Four violations are punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and/or a term of imprisonment of no longer than five years."
"Committee members passed the bill unanimously, and it now waits for consideration by the full House."
Read full article by Wes Wolfe in Florida Politics here:
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/598821-venomous-reptile-bill-amended-to-apply-only-to-nonnative-species/
HB1161: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=77947&SessionId=99
