Wappen Andreas R. Hassl
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The promotion of herpetology as a society’s officer

Table of contents:

I have been a member of the Austrian Herpetological Society (ÖGH), which was founded in 1984, since 1986, and from 1997 to 2004 and again from 2014 to 2020 I held the position of a Secretary General. Herpetology - initially in the form of terraristics - has fascinated me since my days in the High School and was later incorporated into my professional activities.

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P4.1 The Austrian Herpetological Society

The Austrian Herpetological Society, ÖGH, is a public non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of all aspects of herpetology. It supports scientific research in this field and is actively engaged in the protection of amphibians and reptiles and their natural habitat.

It also seeks to gain public understanding and support for these animals. To promote its aims the ÖGH publishes the open access journal HERPETOZOA and the traditional periodical ÖGH-Aktuell with a staff of volunteers.
The Austrian Herpetological Society is an environmental organization approved by the Austrian authorities. This gives the ÖGH the status of a party in environmental impact assessments, including the rights to claim compliance with environmental regulations and to lodge an appeal with the higher administrative court. In Lower Austria the ÖGH is given the right to lodge an "environmental appeal", i. e. to make the authorities act. Modified cit. homepage ÖGH [2016].

The ÖGH is a membership corporation under Austrian association law (I-SD/487-BVP/84) and it consists of the parent society, the ÖGH regional group Styria, and the ÖGH working group Tyrol, the ÖGH regional group Lower Austria, and the ÖGH regional group Burgen­land.

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P4.2 The Secretariat General

The Secretary General of the ÖGH is an executive director of the society according to § 9(2) of the statute. He drafts the declarations of intent of the association internally and leads, in agreement with the President, the business dealings inside. Autonomous he organizes the society internally and systematizes the activities of the society. He is therefore up to watch over the abidance by the statute, in particular the determination of the regularity of the general meetings and the board meetings, elections and decisions, and the management of the protocols and the collection and archiving of documents. He also reproduces outrunning documents and organizes their release. He supports the president in the management of the association when needed. (cit. § 14(3) of the statute). He has to document, archive and publish the achievements of the society at regular intervals.

I was assigned with the Secretariat General of the ÖGH from 1997 to 2004, and from 2014 to 2020. Through this activity and through the long pre-existing membership because of interest I could clarify some conservational and herpetological-microbiological issues that could not be processed without the close relationship to professional herpetologists. These include in particular:
• Biochemical studies of sera from reptiles.

• The risk of the keeper of exotic animals by an improper care of these animals.
• Trade restrictions and legal requirements for the keeping of reptiles and amphibians.
• Preventive and parasitological analysis of faecal samples.
• Diagnosis of reptile’s parasites.

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P4.3 CITES and the protection of biodiversity

In 1982 Austria joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the CITES. The aim of the signatory states, which presently number 175, is to protect endangered animal and plant species by restricting transnational trade in them. A complex body of regulations based on CITES has been established through several legislative acts of the European Union and national legislatures that hinders the transport of certain higher organisms, parts of them and products produced from them through bureau­cratisation. The actual goal of CITES, that of reducing the removal of wild specimens from their natural habitats, is unfortunately barely discernible any more. Implemen­tation of the increasing body of regulations causes considerable frustration, both among citizens affected by the norms, who are mostly not legal experts, and the responsible public security bodies, which tend to have little familiarity with natural history. This essay seeks to point out the points of friction between terms that are used both in the legal and biological fields but are not consistent in content, to shed light on the meaning of biological terms and to present the biological processes that are intended to be influenced by CITES. An appraisal of the prospect of succeeding in protecting plant and animal species by counter­acting natural selection through trade-restricting legislation runs through the essay.

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P4.4 My adequate publications

  1. A038 Hassl A, Hassl D [1988]: Chemisch-analytische und elektrophoretische Untersuchungen an Seren von Uromastyx acanthinurus Bell, 1925. Amphibia-Reptilia 9(2): 181-187.
  2. Frye Hassl A [1996]: book review: Frye FL, Self-assessment colour review of reptiles and amphibians.Manson Publishing/London DLWilliams Ed. Amphibia-Reptilia 17: 178.
  3. ak02 Hassl A, Proy C [1997]: Bericht der General­sekretäre zur 13. ordentlichen General­versammlung der ÖGH. ÖGH-aktuell 2: 3.
  4. ak03 Hassl A [1998]: Bericht des General­sekretärs zum 9. Terrarianer-Treffen der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie. ÖGH-aktuell 3: 3-4.
  5. ak04 Hassl A [1998]: 14. Ordentliche General­versammlung der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie. Bericht des General­sekretärs. ÖGH-aktuell 4: 1-2.
  6. ma99 Hassl A, Benyr G [1999]: Hygiene, Mikrobiologie und Präventivmedizin in der Vivaristik. Skriptum zum ÖGH-Fortbildungskurs I. Eigenverlag; Wien. 16 pp.
  7. ok99 Hassl A, Benyr G [1999]: Amphibien und Reptilien in der veterinärmedizinischen Praxis: Sachgerechter Umgang und parasitologische Diagnostik. Skriptum zum ÖGH-Fortbildungskurs II. Eigenverlag; Wien. 25 pp.
  8. ak05 Hassl A [1999]: 10. ÖGH-Jahrestreffen, vormals: Terrarianertreffen. Bericht des Organisators. ÖGH-aktuell 5: 1.
  9. ak06 Hassl A [2000]: 11. ÖGH-Jahrestreffen vormals: Terrarianertreffen. Bericht des Veranstalters. ÖGH-aktuell 6: 1.
  10. ak07 Hassl A [2000]: Bericht des General­sekretärs über die 16. Ordentliche General­versammlung der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie. ÖGH-aktuell 7: 1-2.
  11. ak08 Hassl A [2001]: Bericht des General­sekretärs zum 12. ÖGH-Jahrestreffen. ÖGH-aktuell 8: 1.
  12. ak09 Hassl A [2002]: Bericht des General­sekretärs über die 17. Ordentliche General­versammlung der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie. ÖGH-aktuell 9: 1-2.
  13. ak09 Hassl A [2002]: Bericht des General­sekretärs über die 13. ÖGH-Jahrestagung. ÖGH-aktuell 9: 2.
  14. ak02 Hassl A [2002]: Bericht des General­sekretärs über die 18. Ordentliche General­versammlung der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie. ÖGH-aktuell 10: 4-5.
  15. Oe13 Hassl A [2004]: Bericht des General­sekretärs der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie über das Vereinsjahr 2002/03. ÖGH-Aktuell 13: 14.
  16. arth Hassl A, Blöschl I, Veits I [2004]: Arthropoda. Medizinische Entomologie in Bildern, in Schemata, in Stichworten. V 2.0. Skriptum zur Vorlesung. Eigenverlag; Wien, A. 23 pp.
  17. A218 Hassl A [2006]: Bioethische Reflexionen eines Terrarianers. ÖGH-Aktuell 17: 10-11.
  18. A212 Hassl A, Armbruster C, Filip T, Seybold J, Mutschmann F [2007]: A mycobacterial infection in a reptilian pet and the pet keeper - a cause of zoonosis? Frankfurt Contributions to Natural History 29: 53-56.
  19. A254 Hassl A, Kleewein A, Gemel R [2011]: Rechtliche Aspekte des Freisetzens von im Süßwasser lebenden Schildkröten in Wien und Niederösterreich. ÖGH-Aktuell 26: 4-18.
  20. A278 Hassl A [2012]: CITES und die Folgegesetzgebung: Schutz der Biodiversität bar des Willens zur Beschränkung. ÖGH-Aktuell 30: 11.
  21. A283 Hassl A [2013]: Leserbrief „Toxoplasmose vs. Salmonellen”. reptilia/elaphe 6: 10.
  22. A284 Hassl A [2013]: Die Terraristik in der Krise: Die ambivalente Positionierung zu Artenschutzanliegen, die Verrechtlichung und eine markante McDonaldisierung. ÖGH-Aktuell 33: 10.
  23. A290 Hassl A [2015]: Vorwort des General­sekretärs. ÖGH-Aktuell 38: 3-4.
  24. A293 Hassl A [2015]: Drei Dekaden ÖGH: Annalen der Jahre 1984 - 2014. ÖGH-Aktuell 39: 72 pp.
  25. A297 Hassl A [2016]: Die Vereinsjahre 2014 und 2015: Bericht des ÖGH-General­sekretärs. ÖGH-Aktuell 42: 7-11.
  26. A301 Hassl A [2017]: Das Vereinsjahr 2016 der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie: Bericht des General­sekretärs aus Anlass der 33. General­versammlung. ÖGH-Aktuell 44: 27-31.
  27. A307 Hassl A [2018]: Zur Geschichte der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie: Ein Update 2018. In: Bischoff W (edt): Die Geschichte der Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde im deutschsprachigen Raum - II. mertensiella 27: 107-112.
  28. A310 Hassl A [2018]: Das Vereinsjahr 2017 der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie: Der Jahresbericht des General­sekretärs und das Protokoll der 34. General­versammlung. ÖGH-Aktuell 47: 10-15.
  29. A330 Hassl A [2019]: Das Vereinsjahr 2018 der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie: Der Jahresbericht des General­sekretärs und das Protokoll der 35. General­versammlung. ÖGH-Aktuell 51: 34-39.
  30. A335 Hassl A [2020]: Das Vereinsjahr 2019 der Öster­reichischen Gesellschaft für Herpetologie: Der Jahresbericht des General­sekretärs und die Protokolle der 36., außerordentlichen und der 37., ordentlichen General­versammlung. ÖGH-Aktuell 55: 13-21.
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