Are You A Retailer?

Make the voice of the industry heard

 

How to join in with the HANDS OFF OUR HOBBY campaign

 

Do you earn your living from the exotic pet trade?  It doesn’t matter whether you own a pet shop or work in one, if you own the biggest pet wholesale outlet in the country or drive the delivery van for them, if you’re the smallest vivarium manufacturer in the country or largest, you all have a part to play. You know how important your role is to you, your family and your customers and it’s vital that you show politicians what your business means to you and your local community.

 

Here are some simple ideas from the Federation of British Herpetologists, in association with the Reptile and Exotic Pet Trade Association, about how you can support the “Hands Off Our Hobby” campaign and help protect your livelihood.

 

Seven things you can do to make the voice of the exotic pet industry heard:

 

  1. Sign our Hands Off Our Hobby petition and encourage your customers to do the same. Download our campaign poster and our campaign flyer to hand out or display around your business. Make sure that your customers know why they need to get involved by signing the petition and writing to their MP. There’s more advice for hobbyists (your customers) here.

 

  1. As we approach the General Election on Thursday 7 May 2015 MP’s and prospective parliamentary candidates (PCC’s) will want to know that they can count on your vote. Write to your local MP/PPC urging them to sign our petition and ask for their assurance that they support the “Hands Off Our Hobby” campaign by promising to oppose any future attempts to ban or unduly restrict exotic pet ownership.

 

You can also use our draft letter and we’ve given you some suggestions about how you can personalise this and send it to your MP /PPC (it will mean more and have more effect if you personalise it and include information about yourself and your business). You can either download, rewrite and print out the letter and send it through the post or copy the main body of the letter (with your additions) into an email. You can find your MP and send your message on the write to them website.  Don’t forget to write to your PPC’s as well, as some do become MPs. Find the main PPC’s for your area by checking out the main party websites for your region.   Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem, SNP, Plaid cymru, Democrat Unionist Party, Green Party, UKIP

 

 

  1. Please send us any replies you get so that we can share them on this web site and our other social media channels so we can make MP’s realise how strongly voters feel about the “Hands Off Our Hobby” campaign. We also really want to build up a list of MP’s and PCC’s who promise to oppose any future attempts to ban or unduly exotic pet ownership  in order to compile a list of MP’s who we can remind about their promises when any such legislation comes to parliament. This is really important, so please send any replies you get via our email address.

 

  1. Want to really get noticed by your MP/PPC? Invite them along to visit your business (ask the boss if you are not the owner) over the coming months. Give them a chance to see what you and your work colleagues do and explain to them why the “Hands Off Our Hobby” campaign is so important to you. In the months before the Election every MP and PPC will be looking for great opportunities to show themselves in a good light to their local electorate (that’s you by the way), so why not tap into that and get them to visit you? You can download our Tip Sheet and Campaign Briefing sheet to help you. Don’t forget to let us know if they come and tell us how you got on via our email address.

 

  1. Join our online flash mob in spring 2015 by signing up to our “THUNDERCLAP!” This ingenious online website will help us share the “Hands Off Our Hobby” message all at the same time, spreading it across Facebook and Twitter simultaneously. Sign up to have our message posted on your Twitter time line or your personal Facebook profile on a particular day. Interested? Keep checking back for more information.

 

  1. Follow our campaign on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and share our “Hands Off Our Hobby campaign updates on your social media accounts. Also use the #handsoff?? hashtag

 

  1. Add a link using our logo on your company website so that your customers can find out more about the “Hands Off Our Hobby” campaign.