Late to the party here but I want to ante in.
First…
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That paper was already posted above and I very specifically called out the problems with it. Posting it again and giving it further credibility as if it were completely valid and definitive just does not sit well with me…
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Moving on…
Matt makes a very coherent statement about the false correlation of motor dysfuntion = pain that was used and embraced for the “banning” of Spider and other morphs in the EU. This was a very purposeful manipulation done by animal rights groups to win over parts of the reptile community to conflate the stigma of these morphs and thereby “win” on getting them forbidden at expos (and, as a point of clarification, these morphs are not banned in the EU, you can still breed them, buy them and sell them, you just cannot do so at any of the expos). The problem here, and why this is a win for AR groups and a thorn for the hobby, is that it sets a precedent that they can build on to further restrict other morphs and, in so doing, further damage the hobby.
How?
First you stigmatize Spider (which they did very well, as witness here)
Next, point to all the other morphs that have wobble, even the minor ones and target them: Woma, HGW, Champ, SuperSpotnose, SuperSable
Next, since it looks more and more that the wobblers are an allele group, target other alleles in the group simply because they are related and target them: Blackhead, Chocolate(?), Wookie(?), RedStripe(?).
Next, point to a different morph with issues and target it: SuperCinny
Next, point to all the alleles in that group and target them: BlkPastel, Enchi, HRA, Huffman, Jolt, Razor, Gypsy, GrnPastel, LBB…
Next, point to a different morph with issues and target it: SuperButter
Next, point to all the alleles in that group and target them: Lesser, Mojave, Phantom, Bamboo, Russo, Special…
Are you keeping track of how many morphs we would now be looking at losing? That is about 1/3 of the base morphs by my rough reckoning…
Next, point to a situation where a specific combo with one of the above has issues and target it: PiedBluEL group and microphthalmia
Next, target the other morph in that combo as being suspect: Pied
Next, having established that even suspect morphs are fair game, broaden the net: Albinos sometimes have eye issues
Next, point to other things similar but not the same as the above: Candy/Toffee, Lav, Caramel, Ultramel, Monarch, Banana…
At this point I think we are down to… Clown, Axanthic, BlkEL group, Ivory group, Pastel and a few others… And I am sure that someone determined could find a way to pick apart each of them.
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It is a slippery slope. One that too few people think about when they start piling on to the anti-Spider (or anti-Scaleless, or anti-whatever) bandwagon. And people really need to start thinking about it.
If you do not like Spider personally, great, fine, wonderful for you. Then do not keep Spiders in your collection. But that should be the beginning and end of the conversation. You have no more right to tell me that I cannot have Spider in my collection than I have to tell you that you cannot keep Axanthic in your collection. Your collection is yours. My collection is mine. What you like is up to you. What I like is up to me
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/End rant