Hey New York peeps,
There's a bill in front of the NY Senate right now and they're trying to slip emus in and make them illegal, labeling them as 'exotic pets' even though the USDA defines them as livestock. As someone who owns emus, I am of course very worried that this will pass and my birds will end up having to be rehomed, or worse, get taken from me.
If you have any time at all, please consider emailing your senator about this. Here's the bill:
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S621
They're using a petting zoo that was already illegal, that then started selling animals that were, again already illegal, to justify this.
If you need ideas about what to say, perhaps something about how emus are livestock and are raised for meat, their fat which is rendered into emu oil, and their eggs which are both food and materials for crafts and jewelry, and how as such, they should not be classified as exotic pets in this bill.
There's a bill in front of the NY Senate right now and they're trying to slip emus in and make them illegal, labeling them as 'exotic pets' even though the USDA defines them as livestock. As someone who owns emus, I am of course very worried that this will pass and my birds will end up having to be rehomed, or worse, get taken from me.
If you have any time at all, please consider emailing your senator about this. Here's the bill:
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S621
They're using a petting zoo that was already illegal, that then started selling animals that were, again already illegal, to justify this.
If you need ideas about what to say, perhaps something about how emus are livestock and are raised for meat, their fat which is rendered into emu oil, and their eggs which are both food and materials for crafts and jewelry, and how as such, they should not be classified as exotic pets in this bill.
