Initial Announcement

Phoenix is a group that serves the entire US that has been incorporated in the state of Washington. International members are also welcome.

Text of notice to the lists November 21, 1999:

In an attempt to form an organization to protect the private owners and allow these owners to participate in the creation of the organization itself, the Phoenix Exotic Wildlife Association has been registered with the state of WA as a non-profit corporation.

The Articles of Incorporation and the by-laws are unexciting, standard issue - but will be available on a website at a future time.
The stated purpose of Phoenix per the articles of incorporation :

“ ...for charitable educational and scientific purposes; to educate the public in the necessary safety precautions and procedures for dealing with exotic wildlife; and to provide emergency assistance to exotic wildlife in need of care or relocation.”

Initial Officers of the Corporation are:

President - J Hall - owner of large and small exotic cats, 10 years experience, trained in business management and business ethics, owner of small businesses since 75
Vice President - Zuzana Kukol - owner of large and small exotic cats, other exotic animals for 15 years, trained in business and economics
Secretary/Treasurer - Kim Germain - Owner of large exotic cat and bird with previous experience with other exotic animals, training in the legal field with extensive experience in law enforcement
Membership Officer - John Lussmyer - owner of small exotic cats after years of research into the subject, current Secretary of local cat club, Senior Software Engineer with a BS in Computer Science, experience in business management.
Ethics Officer - Dave Coleburn - Owner of large and small exotic cats, reptiles, bird, fish, amphibians with experience with other exotic mammals; licensed minister, licensed USDA © exhibitor, member of the Herp Society and experience in business management.

The members of this Corporation will be governed by the rules of membership and ethical codes. These will be developed by the Membership Committee as appointed by the Membership Officer and approved by the Board of Directors; and the Ethics Committee as appointed by the Ethics Officer and approved by the BOD.

Current membership is $10 per year and anyone may join.

Membership dues are non-refundable. Once the membership rules are formulated and the ethical code laid down, all new and renewing members will be required to sign a membership agreement. Existing members will have the option of signing the agreement or accepting a non-voting position for the remaining term of their membership period.

Separate projects for such special interest areas as the accreditation of members, shelter and sanctuary, educational programs or connecting the private owners and sanctuaries into a group of sanctuaries/private owners - are scheduled to follow the creation of the membership rules.

Work committees may begin formation immediately upon approval of a project by the BOD. There are a number of these projects currently pending.

Anyone interested may subscribe to Phoenix_Exotics-subscribe@yahoogroups.com by sending an email and just saying - subscribe - Or by joining Yahoo-groups and subscribing at groups.yahoo.com. This is an open list. Applications to serve on the membership or ethics committee can be sent to jeanneh@tds.net for forwarding.

This is your chance to invent and create the group you want, the way you want it and get what you want done.

The corporation exists now.

This group does not replace REALL. REALL has a very important and specific purpose. The current group is designed to act as an umbrella for the protection of the legal, ethical private owners of exotics.

Mail may be addressed to:
Phoenix Exotic Wildlife Association, PO Box 1132, Chehalis, WA 98532.