Hello while I’m not necessarily new to morphmorket I am with the forums, however I feel like this would be the best place for opinions. I’ve been in the hobby for 21 years starting with my first iguana (granted was not the best first, but no one told me otherwise in 1998) however onto the point I see many laws in the area changing or taking effect throughout PA That in the long run is going to cause people to unethically dispose of certain reptiles/crocodilians. I feel as if another sanctuary being opened in the area will give people the opportunity to relinquish their animals to a safe place that will even grant the opportunity to see them in the future so they are not completely lost to them. Someone with the proper education, establishment and conservation goals in mind. I just wanted to get insight into this, if all goes well we could open by 2022
Laws or not people who shouldn’t have these animals will get thier hands on them. But yes some of these laws will take animals out of responsible keepers hands. Every month someone is looking for a crock or large monitor and within months they’re looking to unload them. It’s a shame, but someone is also there to sell it to them. If you could sustainably run something like this it would be awesome. It definitely would be a lot of work and commitment. The sad truth is you can’t save every dog that runs away. You might not want to spread yourself thin trying to save everything from geckos to turtles to monitors to Crocs. You’ll have to draw a line somewhere or you’ll be overun by Petco drop offs. The local exotic rescue around me gets meat donations from the grocery stores and various other sources to help. I don’t know the legality of running a non profit rescue but you may want to look into grants or reimbursement / tax credits something to offset care, Electric ,water and medical care even. There is a lot to tackle make sure you come at it from all angles. You have a good idea and heart it seems but you need to approach it from an econmical stand point. No one is saving anyone if you go belly up. ( I’m south Central PA myself)
I truly appreciate your input and your right, it has been something I’ve been racking my brain over. There’s a lot more I need to take into consideration before just jumping to it, hopefully this is step one. Thank you again, and I’m all honestly it probably would come down to the larger monitors and crocodilians that everyone seams to think is adorable till they rear up on you or cannot house them properly.