Andrew Gully AFP Yahoo News 20 Oct 11;
Conservationists demanded action over non-existent US wildlife ownership laws after the slaughter of 49 animals, including 18 rare Bengal tigers, set free from a private Ohio farm.
"Quite frankly, nobody should have these animals in the first place so we need to take steps to change laws to make that a reality," Adam Roberts, executive vice president of Born Free USA, told AFP. "These animals belong in accredited facilities with people who can handle them appropriately."
Bears, lions, tigers, wolves and monkeys ran amok when owner Terry Thompson, 62, flung open the enclosures at his Muskingum County Animal Farm near the town of Zanesville on Tuesday evening and then shot himself.
Police officers following shoot-to-kill orders, some of them armed only with handguns, had no choice but to exterminate the animals to protect the local populace, and in some cases themselves, as darkness fell.
By the end of Wednesday, by which time experts with tranquilizer guns had been deployed on the 73-acre (29-hectare) property, 49 animals were dead. Only six were saved. One animal, a monkey, was still thought to be on the loose, if it hadn't been eaten by a lion.
Conservationists have for years demanded strict wildlife ownership laws in the United States, especially in Alabama, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin, where rules are utterly non-existent.
"All eight states that don't have regulations should immediately have an executive order by the governor banning the keeping or sale of these animals," Roberts told AFP. "Stop people acquiring these animals full stop.
"I always ask myself what is it going to take. Is it going to take a woman getting mauled nearly to death by a chimpanzee as happened in Connecticut? Well no, people around the country can still have primates.
"Is this going to open up the eyes of the people in Ohio, which is one of the worst states in the country on the exotic pets issues? I sure hope it does, because this could have been worse, people could have been killed."
His call found one advocate in Congress in Democratic Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, also a leading animal rights advocate.
"I am hopeful that in light of this most recent tragedy, Governor (John) Kasich will heed the calls of the Humane Society of the United States and the public and quickly enact appropriate restrictions on the ownership of exotic animals," he said in a written statement.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) called on states to introduce a blanket ban on the private ownership of exotic animals.
"A ban is really the answer to this," Delcianna Winders, PETA's director of captive animal law enforcement, told AFP. "Private citizens just aren't capable of giving these animals what they need."
For the World Wildlife Fund, the loss of 18 Bengal tigers was particularly devastating as the number of tigers in the wild has declined rapidly, from around 100,000 at the beginning of the last century to as few as 3,200 today.
Leigh Henry, a leading WWF expert on captive tigers, told AFP there are thought to be an astonishing 5,000 tigers held in the United States, the vast majority of them, some 95 percent, in private hands.
"I would say the current patchwork of laws in the United States regulating these captive tigers is inexcusable," she said. "In Ohio and seven other states you can just go and buy a tiger with no requirement for any kind of license or permit."
A tiny number of pure-bred tigers are protected at federal level by the Endangered Species Act and a larger number, those used for commercial purposes such as circuses or road-side zoos, are regulated by the Department of Agriculture.
But the vast majority of tigers are either unregulated or regulated at the state level. WWF's principal concern is that their body parts could end up being traded on the traditional medicine market.
Rising wealth in Asia has seen demand soar and the international trade in wildlife products is now an estimated $6 billion-a-year business.
"Wild products are preferred because they are always seen as more pure and potent," explained Henry. "They always carry a premium on price. As long as that market is there, the threat to wild tigers will increase."
Exotic Pets Are Dangerous to Health
Rachael Rettner LiveScience.com Yahoo News 22 Oct 11;
The ownership of exotic pets poses a danger to human health, advocates say, and the recent incident in Zanesville, Ohio, highlights the need for strict laws to ban the possession of these animals by ordinary citizens.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order this afternoon cracking down on unlicensed exotic animal auctions, following Tuesday's (Oct. 18) incident in which Terry Thompson, of Zanesville, set loose his menagerie of lions, tigers, bears, monkeys and other animals from their cages before committing suicide. Authorities had little choice but to shoot and kill nearly 50 of the untamed animals before they injured people.
Born Free USA, a nonprofit advocacy organization that strives to end the ownership of wild animals, has documented some 1,500 attacks, escapes and other incidents involving exotic pets since 1990. The organization collects data on where each incident occurred, the type of animal involved and the fate of the animal (whether it was transferred to a zoo, euthanized or returned to its owner).
Born Free has documented 75 human deaths since it began collecting data. But this number and the number of attacks are likely underestimates, the organization said, because it relies on local and national news reports.
Besides deaths and injuries, there's also a chance these animals will transmit deadly infections to humans.
"It's not just about bites, scratches or mauling," said Adam Roberts, executive vice president at Born Free USA. "It's also about disease." Reptiles can carry salmonella bacteria, and monkeys can carry the herpes B virus, both of which can be deadly in humans.
Though he had not yet seen the text of Kasich's order, Roberts said, "It's not just about the auctions and people who sell these animals, it's about the people who keep these animals."
"Nobody should have wild animals," he said. "It's just not worth the risk."
Animal attacks
Born Free's database is full of horrible and bizarre events involving exotic pets. On Sunday (Oct. 16), a 4-year-old boy in Texas was mauled by a pet mountain lion kept by his aunt, and hospitalized for his injuries. In September, an 80-year-old man in Ohio was attacked by a 200-pound kangaroo at an exotic animal farm. And in June, a Nebraska man in his 30s was strangled to death by his pet boa constrictor.
Over the last two decades, the number of attacks from exotic pets has been stable, Roberts said. But it's likely that more people are keeping wild animals as pets today than previously because the animals have become easier to acquire, Roberts said.
Monkeys and other primates are more dangerous to people than other exotic pets because of their tendency to bite and scratch, Roberts said. Exotic snakes and reptiles are also particularly dangerous. Born Free has tracked 443 incidents involving exotic reptiles since 1990, the most of any animal group.
Turtles, snakes and other reptiles can be carriers of salmonella. Born Free's database lists eight cases in which young children fell ill after contracting salmonella from an exotic reptile pet. Another case of disease transmission involved a 37-year-old man who contracted the fungal disease blastomycosis after being bitten by his pet kinkajou, a rainforest mammal related to the raccoon.
Opponents argue these pets offer companionship, and the right to own them should not be restricted. "Most of these fatalities are owners, family members, friends and trainers voluntarily on the property where the animals were kept," said Zuzana Kukol, co-founder and president of Responsible Exotic Animals Ownership, or REXANO, a nonprofit organization committed to protecting the rights of animal owners. "These were voluntarily accepted hazards, not a public safety issue."
Owners should take responsibility to properly care for and house their pets, REXANO says. Bans may increase the number of illegal animals and contribute to the number of animals in need of a home, the organization says.
Loose laws
Just what type of wild animal can be kept as a pet varies depending on where you live. Some states, including Iowa and Massachusetts, completely ban the keeping of exotic pets. Some states require owners to have a permit. And others, including Ohio, have little to no regulation at all, Roberts said.
Ohio has seen 86 incidents involving exotic pets over the last two decades, according to Born Free. The state ranks second in terms of the number of incidents that occur per capita (Florida has the most incidents of any state, many involving snakes).
But even states with strict laws, such as California, can have a large number of cases because people break the law, Roberts said.
To find out whether there are exotic animals in your neighborhood or town, Roberts recommended contacting your local law enforcement officials or Born Free, and asking if there are any known wild animal keepers or breeders in the area.
Pass it on: Exotic pets are not safe and should not be kept in homes, advocates say.
