COMMITTEE CHANGES
Early in November 2002 the FBH Vice Chairman, Eddie Munt announced to the committee that he
was to resign. He has sent the following message for all FBH members.

Message from Eddie Munt
Leaving my job as vice-chairman of the FBH was a difficult decision for me but I believe I made the right move as far as the public image of the FBH is concerned because I am too passionate about their aims and too controversial and impatient. The new vice-chairman appears to be very competent and certainly more politically correct. I support the FBH and their work unreservedly and I thank all the members of the FBH for their support.
All of you could help the FBH by encouraging fellow hobbyists and the shops you visit to also join the FBH. Funds are vital and more members would enable the FBH to achieve their goals more quickly. The committee are your unpaid servants, give them all the help you can.
Eddie Munt.

Message from Chris Newman
On behalf of the entire FBH committee I would like to thank Eddie Munt for his sterling contribution and the effort he has put in to ensure that the Federation is now an established and recognised body. I know everyone will join me in wishing Eddie well and I look forward to working with him in the future.
Chris Newman
Chairman of the Federation of British Herpetologists

At the January committee meeting Gordon Glasson was asked by the committee if he would take on the vacant position of Vice Chairman, he agreed and was duly voted in. It was also decided to invite Martin Eustace from the Portsmouth Reptile & amphibian Society to join the committee. Martin has already been working actively with the FBH and has had a lot of experience in dealing with local councils on conservation issues. Martins experience will be an asset to the work being carried out by the FBH and the committee would like to take this opportunity to welcome Martin aboard.

WORKING WITH DEFRA
Members of the FBH committee have attended two meetings with DEFRA. For the first meeting on the 30th of October 02 Gordon Glasson and Nils Getman attended as representatives of both the FBH and Ark Group (a web based group affiliated to the FBH) This was to discuss the views of the hobby and the trade in relation to the current Animal Welfare Review. Despite strong suspicion that this would be a rather negative event both representatives came away feeling very positive and with renewed hope. It was made very clear that the review is not an RSPCA bill nor is it an RSPCA wish list. DEFRA has no intention of banning anything, only in improving the welfare of animals in the UK and clarifying and updating the current law. It was stated that DEFRA recognise the importance of feedback from representative groups as experts in their field. The Police will without doubt get more powers. DEFRA stated they have considered a National Enforcing authority but feel it would be too costly so are now considering a status quo between the police, local authorities and appropriate experts. They are also considering the creation of a small inspectorate to look at improving the responses of local authorities and enforcing bodies along with the costs. DEFRA admitted that the term “likely to cause suffering” used in the initial introduction to the welfare bill was too open to interpretation and open to abuse by animal rights groups but a definition of cruelty was required along with a definition
of when it was likely to be caused. Their preference is now for the term “duty of care” which will be based on the five freedoms. DEFRA are also looking at codes of conduct for the industry to include such rules as compulsory care sheets with every purchase of a live animal, greater control over pet fairs to include clarity of the laws required which would be open to easy interpretation by the local authorities who could then licence them properly, and better controls on private members meetings which they currently see as a loop hole in the law
Finally DEFRA requested that a document be put together giving details of how we felt the hobby could be improved and helped by DEFRA. This request led to a 100 page document being handed into DEFRA on the 3rd of January covering topics such as Reptile fairs, education, self regulation, salmonella, courses in exotic management, captive breeding, importing, codes of conduct and compulsory issuing of care sheets
The second meeting was attended by Chris Newman on the 6th of January. Members of Animal Aid, the Captive Animal Welfare society and the RSPCA were also present at this meeting along with the ex reptile trader turned ethical reptile expert Clifford Warwick. As you would imagine this was a very negative meeting, with all these groups calling for bans on pet fairs and pet ownership etc. DEFRA made it quite clear that the Animal Welfare Review was about improving animal welfare and not about banning perfectly legitimate trades and hobbies. Many of our friends seemed to have trouble accepting this concept on the day and judging by recent Animal Aid press releases they are still having trouble with this new ideology.
Unfortunately Chris Newman was unable to enter into communication with the Animal Aid representatives as the only thing they could bring themselves to say to him, in true playground animosity was that they weren’t talking to him, in fact Mr Warwick made a point of talking to him twice, just to tell him both times “I’m not talking to you”
Next stage of the consultation, draft is expected 2nd half of 2003
The FBH was also represented by Chris Newman and Nils Getman at the recent meeting of the Partnership for Action against Wildlife crime (PAW) at Kew Gardens and at the Cites meeting in Chile by Jon Coot.

DWAA REVIEW
This review is still ongoing. Many of you may have noticed the increased activity among groups such as Animal Aid and the RSPCA in an attempt to bias the end result in their favour. When you read reports in the papers about dangerous iguanas and escaped man eating constrictors and see TV programmes like the recent “Britains worst pet shops” keep in mind that this is all about showing our pets to be dangerous and our hobby to be suspect so these groups can get their way with the DWAA.

SOCIETIES TO RUN SHOWS NEEDED
Would you like the opportunity to attend a reptile show this year? The FBH is ready, willing and able to help any affiliated club or society to put on a show. Clubs and societies that put on shows last year all reported an increase in membership both on the day and at subsequent meetings afterwards. Member only events are perfectly legal and can be as big or small as you want. If you belong to an FBH affiliate group, please suggest putting on a show, there’s never been a better time to do it. Please contact the FBH for any help or advice required and remember to tell us about the event, so we can advertise it.

CRICKET CASE (by Martin Eustace)
In the run up to Christmas the FBH was contacted by a pet shop owner in the North West of England. He had been issued with an Abatement Notice from Carlisle City Council (EP act 1990 - section 80) that stated that he must cease from keeping live crickets at his shop just 28 days from the date of the serving of the notice (19th November). It went on to say that even were he to appeal he still had to cease to keep crickets from the 28th day until the outcome of the appeal. We were unable to do anything for two days as the call had come in on a Friday.
Contact was established with a Solicitor in Carlisle. After viewing the paperwork already accumulating it was felt that legal action should be taken immediately, particularly as the 28-day clock was ticking in the background added to which cricket sales make up a substantial part of any reptile shop’s income and that to lose this business would put the owners livelihood in question - let alone the welfare of animals within the shop.
The solicitor issued draft appeal paperwork to Carlisle City Council accompanied by a ‘stern’ letter. It had transpired that the Abatement notice had been issued on the basis that 1 (one) cricket had been found outside the boundaries of the shop premises - species unknown, and that it had been causing a nuisance that was injurious to health.
Knowing this, we were able to gather evidence against the notice; from a reptile vet explaining that crickets are an essential part of the nutritional intake of many reptiles and from a lecturer in Veterinary Practices that explained that crickets do not naturally produce any evidence of carrying bacteria that would be harmful to humans or other animals.
These letters were sent on to the Solicitor.
The appeal paperwork was lodged at Carlisle Magistrates Court.
By now a further week had elapsed and the Solicitor, having more closely scrutinized the original Abatement notice, sent a
letter to the City Council pointing out that in fact the Abatement notice had not been implemented correctly and that, legally, it would be considered null and void if taken to court. On the 12th of December, the City Council backed down and withdrew the Abatement notice. As we had incurred costs in order to achieve this it was suggested to Carlisle City Council that we would pursue a claim to recover these costs with them through a court.
We were finally offered a 50% settlement out of court with a confidentiality clause attached. The Solicitor queried this for us and the confidentiality clause was removed. (Hence I am freely able to now be typing these words.)
The final outcome was a resounding success, the remaining 50% of the legal bill was paid between the owner of the shop (20%) and a number of livefood producers and wholesalers (30%) who in principle had pledged to cost cover us through this process. Thank you all.
In some ways the removal of the confidentiality clause at the last minute was a major victory as the people concerned with this case can freely share what happened with you all.

TV SHOWS
We have had the following message from the BBC
Are you the proud owner of an iguana, tarantula or rosy boa? Do your friends and family avoid visiting you at feeding time? Or maybe you’’re thinking of entering the weird and wonderful world of exotic pets for the first time. If so, we want to hear your story for a warm and sensitive documentary for BBC1. Please call Rachel on 01865 420 692 or email info@landmarkfilms.com
And this from ITV
ITV animal show 'Brilliant Creatures is now in its sixth series. We film the show at the tail end of April. The show is very popular especially its two presenters Stephen Mulhern (Finger Tips, Quick Trick Show, Globo Loco) and Gail McKenna (How 2). Brilliant Creatures is mainly studio based and we are currently in the process of finding suitable animals to feature on the show. Generally the criteria is that the animals are happy in human company and offer interest and education to our young audience. The more unusual and rare the animal the better. Fancy a bit of TV exposure!
We can name check your organisation or pay a fee and of course we cover all travel expenses etc. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you think you may be able to help
Keith Cotton, Researcher, Tel: 01622 684497 or write to Brilliant Creatures series 6, The Maidstone Studios (just off
Junction 7, M20), Vinters Park, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 5NZ, Fax: 01622 684612
Given the negative nature of previous TV shows the FBH has checked out both these programmes and feels they are genuine. Unfortunately we can not give any guarantees

WATCH OUT FOR NEW POSTERS AND BOOKLET
We are pleased to announce the release of a free booklet entitled “Starting with Reptiles and Amphibians” Written by Reptilian Magazine editor and FBH Chairman Chris Newman, the booklet is designed to supply the basic information required by the new herptile keeper. All the major wholesalers have now been supplied with this booklet and it should be appearing in pet shops every where. Any pet shops experiencing problems sourcing the booklet please contact Chris Newman on 02380 440999
A copy of the booklet can be down loaded from HERE

The FBH has also begun producing the first of a planned series of information posters and hand outs. The first covers the small risk from salmonella and has been produced using guidelines kindly supplied by the British Veterinary Zoological Society.

FBH ONLINE
Don’t forget the FBH has up to date information available on the web at http://www.f-b-h.co.uk/ and you can ask questions and chat on the FBH forums at http://pub144.ezboard.com/bfbh