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RESOLUTION URGING CONGRESS TO PROHIBIT THE PURCHASE, SALE, OR TRANSFER OF PYTHONS AS WELL AS FUTURE PRIVATE OWNERSHIP

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WHEREAS, pythons are not native to Florida, and approximately 112,000 pythons have been imported into the United States since 1990 as exotic pets; and
WHEREAS, pythons can grow to more than 25 feet and can weigh more than 200 pounds, and they kill their prey by wrapping themselves around it and squeezing; and
WHEREAS, pythons that had been acquired as exotic pets have been released into Everglades National Park and, because they have no natural predators in Florida, their numbers have grown to the tens of thousands; and
WHEREAS, pythons have destroyed some of Florida�s native species, including some endangered species; and
WHEREAS, on July 1, 2009, an unpermitted python in a Sumter County home escaped its aquarium and strangled a two-year-old girl to death; and
WHEREAS, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has classified Burmese pythons as �Reptiles of Concern� and has initiated a program to eradicate them from the Florida Everglades; and
WHEREAS, pythons present a clear and present danger to the public health, safety, and welfare,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that:
Section 1. This Board urges Congress to restrict the purchase, sale, or other transfer of all pythons currently in private ownership and to ban all future private ownership of pythons.
Section 2. The Clerk of the Board is hereby directed to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to Florida�s two U.S. Senators and the members of the Florida Congressional Delegation.
Section 3. The Office of Intergovernmental Affairs is hereby directed to include this item in the 2009 and 2010 Federal Legislative Packages.