Legislative Alerts:   select location Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavit Ontario Prince Edward Island Québec Saskatchewan Yukon Canada International
In the News:   select location Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavit Ontario Prince Edward Island Québec Saskatchewan Yukon Canada International

Website Developments:

2010-01-28  Moved CATAL Policy to CATAKA website.

2010-01-25  Added [CATAKA] and [CATAKA on Facebook] buttons.

2009-12-22  Added bird video to [Help Our Friends].

2009-09-21  I changed the action of "Legislative Alerts:" and "In the News:" select boxes to display immediately, eliminating the need for the [View] button. I also made "Aquarium", "Terrarium", "Both" and "Unknown" types part of the database query for both "Legislative Alerts:" and "In the News:".

2009-09-18  Added button for [CATAL Presentations].

2009-08-02  Added more links to [Links to Information].

2009-07-30  Added amendment by USARK to HR2811 and its passage by the full House Judiciary Committee to Legislative Alerts: International.

2009-07-26  Added USARK HR2811 Alert, "Python Ban", to "Legislative Alerts: International"

2009-07-07  Added "Other Eco-Terrorists and Animal Rights Extremists, Department of Homeland Security Eco-Terrorism in the U.S. 2008 Report (pdf file)" to [Know Our Enemies].

2009-06-26  Added H. R. 2811, "To amend title 18, United States Code, to include constrictor snakes of the species Python genera as an injurious animal." to Legislative Alerts: International.

2009-06-16  Added "Animal Rights:" Pernicious Nonsense For Both Law & Public Policy, Editorial By Richard K. Latimer, Attorney at Law, May 2009, to [Know Our Enemies].

2009-05-07  Added new website links in "Links to Information"

2009-05-01  Added "ATVIIR: Aquarium and Terrarium Animal Risk Assessment and Regulation (ATARAR)" to list of applications under [Responsible Animal Ownership]

2009-04-23  Added a link to the video of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife Legislative Hearing on H.R. 669, April 23, 2009, to "Legislative Alerts: International" following the text of H.R. 669.

2009-04-10  Changed Alert Scroller from horizontal to vertical.

2009-02-08  Added more by-laws to "Municipal By-Laws"

2009-02-07  Added the text of S.373, To amend title 18, United States Code, to include constrictor snakes of the species Python genera as an injurious animal, under "Legislative Alerts: International"

2009-01-31  Added the text of H.R. 669, Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act, under "Legislative Alerts: International"

2009-01-22  I have renovated the CATAL website to improve the layout and make its appearance more cross-browser consistent.

2008-11-20  Added the text of Bill 50, Provincial Animal Welfare Act, 2008 under "Legislative Alerts: Ontario"

2008-10-24  Added October 24, 2008 - Ontario Court of Appeals Decision on the Ontario Pit Bull Ban to [Legal].

2008-08-17  I added a link to the BC Reptile Club in [Links to Information].

2008-08-12  I have completed the development of three great applications in one: Galleries onLine, Life onLine, and Breeding onLine, which enable you to record and track every detail of your animal's life and genealogy in both words and pictures. Please click [Responsible Animal Ownership] for more details.

2008-04-04  The buttons, [Pending Legislation], and "Legislative Alerts" [View] evolved to become duplicates of each other, so I have removed the [Pending Legislation] button. All information that was under [Pending Legislation] has been moved to "Legislative Alerts" [View].

2008-04-01  As part of CATAL's Policy to advocate for Responsible Animal Ownership, I have created a suite of on-line applications to assist responsible animal owners in the documentation, breeding, and sale of their animals. I also welcome links to other such applications which foster responsible animal ownership. Responsible animal ownership applications may be viewed by clicking the [Responsible Animal Ownership] button.

2008-03-29  Added "Introduction to the Politics of Animal Legislation" to [Links to Information] under the heading "Legal".

2008-03-25  I located a copy of the actual September 7, 2004 Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in the Xentel vs. City of Windsor Animal By-law Case, and I have replaced the existing brief in [Legal] with the full text of this decision.

For those interested in issues surrounding the creation of Municipal Animal By-laws and the function of the Courts with respect to cases involving animal by-law disputes, this case provides an excellent example.

2008-03-24  I have created an image hosting website for aquarium and terrarium images called Galleries onLine^TM which anyone is welcomed to use.

2008-03-05  Added Shane Simpson, NDP Opposition Critic for Environment, to [Contacts]. Mr. Simpson, as Opposition Critic for Environment, may be very interested in what keepers of harmless amphibians and reptiles have to say about the proposed changes to the BC Wildlife Act. If you live in British Columbia, please be sure to let Mr. Simpson hear from you.

2008-02-26  Added (2) new issues to [Legal]: Issues Affecting Canadian Aquarium and Terrarium Animals with the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) Submission (June 27, 2007) and the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) Submission (June 28, 2007) and the British Columbia Ministry of Environment (BC MOE) Discussion Paper

[4] Should the BC MOE include "exotic animals" in its definition of "wildlife", as proposed by the BC SPCA and VHS, many personal pets, breeding stock, and their offspring could suddenly become the property of the Province of British Columbia. Wildlife Act - Property in Wildlife, which states: "(1) Ownership in all wildlife in British Columbia is vested in the government. (2) A person does not acquire a right of property in any wildlife except in accordance with a permit or licence issued under this Act or the Game Farm Act or as provided in subsection (3) of this section. (3) A person who lawfully kills wildlife and complies with all applicable provisions of this Act and the regulations acquires the right of property in that wildlife. (4) If a person by accident or for the protection of life or property kills wildlife, that wildlife, despite subsection (3), remains the property of the government. (5) Despite anything in this Act, no right of action lies, and no right of compensation exists, against the government for death, personal injury or property damage caused by (a) wildlife, or (b) an animal that escapes or is released from captivity or is abandoned"

[5] Proposed changes to the BC Wildlife Act would put the onus on animal owners, breeders, retailers, importers, etc. to prove that animals, not on the Province's 'clean' list, pose no threat to the environment and/or to public safety. Discussion Paper - Management of Wildlife Populations and Protection of Species - Alien Species "Develop 'clean' and 'prohibited' lists in regulation to clarify which species cannot be imported, trans-located or released by the public. If a species appears on neither list, the proponent must demonstrate that importing the species will not negatively impact wildlife, habitat or human health and safety."

2008-02-19  It has been almost one month since I started working on the CATAL Website. In that time, I have created many new features, and I have posted quite a bit of information relating to Aquarium and Terrarium Animal Legislation on the CATAL Website. More importantly though, over 1,100 people have signed the "Keeping Amphibians and Reptiles as Pets Petition". This is largely due to the efforts of many dedicated aquarium and terrarium animal enthusiasts who have worked very hard to raise awareness of, and opposition to, the pending changes in British Columbia Wildlife Act. I will continue to frequently update this website with any new information that I am aware of, and I will also add new features to CATAL as applicable - like more detailed statistical reporting of the Canadian live polls results, when a large enough sample becomes available (i.e. after several hundred responses), for example. I may no longer post every day, but I will post whenever there is something to report. I'm not sure what the outcome of our efforts will be in British Columbia, but we are letting organizations, who would take away our freedom to keep aquarium and terrarium animals, know that we will not be giving up without a fight! Thank you to everyone who supports our passion for unusual animals! Completed CATAL Administration.

2008-02-18  Added 2 news articles to "In the News: International". CATAL Administration 50% complete... continued working on CATAL Administration.

2008-02-17  Started working on CATAL Website Administration to make it easier to add, edit, and delete Legislative Alerts, News Articles, and Website Developments. Modified the display of "Website Developments" slightly.

2008-02-16  Added Bill 154 2006 "An Act to Regulate Zoos" to [Pending Legislation]. Added 2 Ontario News Articles and 3 British Columbia News Articles.

2008-02-15  Added 2 International News Articles and 3 Ontario News Articles. Renamed "Canada" to "International" in "Legislative Alerts:" and "In the News:". Completed "In the News:" feature.

2008-02-14  Started working on a new feature called "In the News". Renamed "Website News" to "Website Developments".

2008-02-13  Added 4 new links in [Links to Information]. Added the "Domestic Pet Turtle Equality Act" to "Legislative Alerts: Canada".

2008-02-12  Added Canada, to the "Keeping Amphibians and Reptiles as Pets Petition" "Province:" select box, which may be selected to view an alphabetized list of everyone who has signed the petition. As a result of some changes I made to automate Email Alerts, the "Keeping Amphibians and Reptiles as Pets Petition" stopped working for about 90 minutes... my bad! Everything should be working fine now. Started emailing SAMPLE LETTERS to everyone in British Columbia that has signed the petition.

2008-02-11  Added PIJAC alert to "Legislative Alerts: British Columbia". Added a sample letter from Hobbyists, Breeders, Retailers, Manufacturers, Import/Exporters, and PIJAC to [Sample Letters].

2008-02-10  Added a [Sample Letters] button - sample letters will be posted in a few days. Added [Policy] button and moved PIJAC, CVMA, and CFHS Exotic Animal Policies from [Municipal By-laws] to [Policy].

2008-02-09  Improved the CATAL website screen layout at lower screen resolutions (e.g. 1024 X 768) by scaling the text size.

2008-02-08  Linked to Penn & Teller "PETA Bullshit" videos on YouTube (instead of my server) in [Know Our Enemies]. Added 1 new contact in [Contacts]. Created a French Version of CATAL. Added 1 new link in [Links to Information]. Added 7 new alerts to "Legislative Alerts: Canada".

2008-02-07  CATAL and REXANO link up! Added 2 new links in [Links to Information]. Added 1 new alert to "Legislative Alerts: Ontario".

2008-02-06  Added 1 new link in [Links to Information]. Added link to "Herp Law & CITES Forum" at Kingsnake.com on Canada Alert ( 2008-02-04 ). Added link to National Post article "B.C. aims to control exotic pet industry" on British Columbia Alert ( 2008-02-04 ). Added City of Edmonton, AB Exotic Animal By-laws to [Municipal By-laws].

2008-02-05  Added 4 new links in [Links to Information] and 2 new links in [Import / Export]. Added Barry Penner, BC Minister of Environment and Chris Hamilton, Manager, Wildlife Act Review Project to [Contacts]. Added City of Hamilton, ON and City of Winnipeg, MB Exotic Animal By-laws to [Municipal By-laws].

2008-02-04  I have completed the enhancement of "Legislative Alerts:". The only selection necessary is the location. Over the next few days, I will be enhancing "Legislative Alerts:" so that you will be able to select your province, and get Legislative Alerts that only pertain to your selection.

2008-02-03  Added Legislation which could ban popular fish in the European Union. Added 2 new links in [Municipal By-laws]. Added 2 acts of the McGuinty (Ontario) Government to "Legislative Alerts". Added 4 new links in [Import / Export]. Added the initiative by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to include Boas, Pythons, and Eunectes on the Injurious Wildlife List of the Lacey Act to "Legislative Alerts".

2008-02-02  Added a Horizontal News Scroller and more information to [Legal].

2008-02-01  Added "Issues Affecting Canadian Aquarium and Terrarium Animals" to [Legal]. Added [Help Our Friends] button and changed [Know Your Enemies] button to [Know Our Enemies]. Added 2 new links in [Statistics]. Added 1 new link in [Links to Information].

2008-01-31  Changed the [Links to Websites] button to [Links to Supporters]. Added 2 contacts to [Contacts]. Added a new section to [Links to Information] called "Government of Canada". Added a new section to [Legal] called "Discussion of the Issues with the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BCSPCA) Submission to the British Columbia Ministry of Health (BCMOE)". Added 2 more quotes to [Know Your Enemies].

2008-01-30  Added 2 links to [Import / Export]. Changed the name of the [Links] button to [Links to Information], and added a [Links to Websites] button for reciprocal links from the Canadian Aquarium and Terrarium Animal Legislation ( CATAL ) website to aquarium and terrarium hobbyists, and related businesses, who link to us. Added 2 new links to [Links to Information].

2008-01-29  The "Canadian Pet Animal Diversity Poll" and the "Canadian Pet Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Poll" are ready for use now! While you are here, please take a minute to respond to these two simple polls. The data generated will help in the fight against exotic animal bans! You may view the "live" poll results on the [Statistics] webpage. Added a colour-coding scheme to the "Legislative Alerts:". CATAL is starting to show up in Google searches! Try it yourself... type "Canadian Aquarium and Terrarium Animal Legislation" or "keeping amphibians and reptiles petition" into Google.

2008-01-28  Both the "Canadian Pet Animal Diversity Poll" and the "Canadian Pet Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Poll" are working. However, I would like to take another day for testing. Anyone that would like to try the polls out, i.e. enter some poll data on the [Poll] page and view the results on the [Statistics] page is welcomed to do so. I will purge any "test data" that is entered before the polls are put into use gathering real statistics.

2008-01-27  Added [Legal] button to webpages with case law, legal issues, and legal opinions concerning animal by-laws. I have completed the "Canadian Pet Animal Diversity Poll" and the "Canadian Pet Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Poll". I will be testing the polls and creating the statistical display tomorrow, and both polls should be ready for use on Tuesday, January 29. I am working on the "Canadian Pet Animal Diversity Poll" and the "Canadian Pet Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Poll", and I expect to finish them today. I'm looking forward to seeing how the results of these two polls turn out!

2008-01-26  I added a [Spread the Word!] button, which is a list of 7 highly effective ways in which you can let others know about this website. The "Canadian Pet Animal Diversity Poll" and the "Canadian Pet Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Poll" are almost complete. The purpose of these two polls is to discover the demographics of pet owners, and in particular, amphibian and reptile owners, in Canada. The "live" polling results may be viewed by clicking the [Statistics] button. The results of these two polls should be quite interesting because I don't believe such a thing has been done in Canada before. I'm curious to see the results... are you?

2008-01-25  Added more content to [FAQ], added (6) photos and (2) videos to [Our Animals], added (6) more links to [Links], started development of 2 polls on [Polls].

2008-01-24  Started working on the [FAQ] content, added two new buttons: [Polls] (for gathering Canadian amphibian and reptile statistics) and [Our Animals] (beautiful photographs of the animals we keep - please email any photos you would like to share to webwheeler at aqua-terra-vita dot com - all photographs posted on this website will give full credit to the hobbyist and to the photographer).

2008-01-23  Cleaned up the appearance of the webpage, added a statistics page (i.e. [Statistics] button), added content to [Know Your Enemies], and got the video player working. If you speak French fluently, please see the Blog.

2008-01-22  I have added some content to the [Import / Export] button, and the [Municipal By-laws] button has content as well... I input the Animal By-laws for the City of Toronto and for the City of Vancouver. More by-laws for other cities will be added soon!

2008-01-21  Even though this website is under construction, it is still very functional! The [Amphibian and Reptile Petition], [Blog], and [Links] buttons have content, and the other menu buttons will have content in the near future. If you are an aquarium or terrarium enthusiast, please check back often for important legislative news that will affect your hobby. If you support the keeping of harmless amphibians and reptiles, please show your support by signing the "Keeping Amphibians and Reptiles as Pets Petition"! Thank you!

Keeping Amphibians and Reptiles as Pets Petition

I support the keeping of amphibians and reptiles that are incapable of causing serious harm, or death, to a healthy adult human being.

By submitting the information below, I affirm that I am of voting age in my province and give my consent to being contacted by email to confirm my identity.

Province:   Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavit Ontario Prince Edward Island Québec Saskatchewan Yukon All Provinces