September 8, 2023


CALL TO ACTION:

AB 829, ACR 86, & Ban on Import Permits for Invasive Species!

Both AB 829 (Waldron), the Animal Cruelty & Violence Intervention Act, and ACR 86 (Kalra), the Pet Crisis Response Act, will be voted on by the full Senate next week!


Please Call YOUR Senator ASAP and

Ask Them To:


"Vote YES on AB 829 and ACR 86!"


FIND YOUR SENATOR HERE


NEED YOU NOW FOR CALIFORNIA'S NATIVE FROGS & TURTLES



Did you know that California's native frogs and turtles are being decimated by imported bullfrogs and turtles that are meant to be sold in live markets for food? These imported animals often find their way into California's ecosystems by human negligence where they wreck havoc on native species.


We need you to email today - PLEASE KEEP READING!


Last week, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released it's Invasive Alien Species Assessment in which it stated that the "severe global threat posed by invasive alien species to nature, economies, food security and human health is underappreciated, underestimated, and often unacknowledged."


Meanwhile, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife published a detailed report on the negative effects of invasive bullfrogs and non-native turtles on our native frogs and turtles. As recommended by the Department in the report, the evidence presented supports a complete importation ban on these invasive species.


The California Wildlife Resources Committee will be meeting on September 19th to discuss strategies and potentially make recommendations for the American

Bullfrog and Non-native Turtles Stakeholder Engagement Project.


As the documentation supports, we are urging the Committee to recommend a complete ban on imports of bullfrogs and non-native turtles in order to help reduce the spread of these invasive species and the diseases that they spread to California's native wildlife.


Our input to the Committee is simply to listen to the science and the recommendation from the Department, which is:


  1. Restricting the issuance of importation permits are more effective and thus require less enforcement effort.
  2. Reducing or eliminating importation of live bullfrogs will proportionally reduce population pressure of American bullfrogs and novel emerging amphibian pathogens into California, thereby reducing threats to California wildlife.
  3. It is reasonable to expect the larger and more comprehensive the ban or reduction, the greater the benefits realized to California wildlife.


Please send a simple email stating:


Support for a complete import ban on bullfrogs and non-native turtles.


You can use the above bullet points in your comment, but feel free to use your own voice.


Email your comment to the Wildlife Resources Committee no later than NOON on September 15th!


You may submit your written comments by emailing:


fgc@fgc.ca.gov

Thank you so much for using your voice to protect California's wildlife!


Thank you so much,

Judie Mancuso, founder/CEO/president

Social Compassion in Legislation

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