Exotic pets USA: Tigers, big bucks and organised crime

[n2doc]

13:40 21 October 2011 by Chelsea Whyte

The story of the man who released his 56 exotic animals into Ohio farmland and then took his own life has brought US animal ownership laws to the attention of the world. Here we take a look at what it really takes to get an exotic pet into an American home.

What types of exotic animal can you own in the US?
Eight states have no laws at all governing the ownership of exotic animals. Elsewhere, dangerous beasts from bears to primates to crocodiles are allowed as pets in much of the country. But even in states with ownership laws, the types of animals allowed vary widely. Arkansas, for example, has a ban on owning large carnivores like lions, tigers and bears, but each citizen can own up to six bobcats. Similarly lax laws in Colorado allow for ownership of up to six kangaroos.

These lenient rules don't come without consequences. The Exotic Animal Incidents database compiled by animal protection organisation Born Free USA cites 75 human deaths since 1990 and over 1500 other incidents. Most occurred in Florida.

more
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21078-exotic-pets-usa-tigers-big-bucks-and-organised-crime.html

[mysuzuki2]

1. I'm sorry, but No one needs

six bobcats.

[pitohui]

3. no one NEEDS any pet

the argument based on need is ridiculous, for if carried to a logical conclusion it would mean that all pet ownership is wrong

i knew a wealthy man who specialized in the captive breeding of a family of exotic birds (won't say which to protect his privacy, since he's still active), he was able to set up a nice property and set several first breeding records for those species...was it wrong for this man to have this hobby, if he could afford it and if he could keep the birds in his private zoo so well that he was getting better results than the public zoos?

i don't think so, he has contributed a great deal to the understanding of this family of birds

yet there are individuals who can't even keep a budgie happy, because they are too busy or too careless to understand the needs of these social birds

yet you wouldn't dream of banning the budgie as a pet

i don't know what would attract someone to bobcats but if they have multiple bobcats, they almost certainly have a breeding operation, they are not having six penguins so they can juggle penguins if you catch my meaning

license breeding operations and private zoos, license the keeping of certain species, maybe require lessons (as you would require hunter safety lessons) for certain species...but there are some animals that will soon have NO habitat in the wild...tigers being among those species, i agree, no one in ohio wants a tiger running loose, but guess what, folks, nobody anywhere in the world wants a tiger running loose in their village and we are facing a choice here of being willing to allow for captive tigers or just allowing the various subspecies to go extinct, which some of them will be extinct in the wild in very short order

guy in ohio was a shithead, but just because one guy is a shithead, you don't kill an entire hobby or breeding operation

[mysuzuki2]

4. I was just wondering why SIX bobcats

instead of 4 or 7 or whatever. I don't think bobcats or lynx or snow leopards would make good pets. They are too big. The one reason we get along with housecats is that we are so much bigger than they are. They would be a problem if they were larger. I love animals. I understand why someone might want to keep a tiger and might well develop an affectionate relationship with it. But as a general rule, most people[le should stick with cats, dogs, birds and the occasional lizard. Keeping bears, lions and tigers in a residential neighborhood is just a bad idea. After all, from their point of view why shouldn't they eat your 7 year old?

[RebelOne]

2. I lived in South Florida in the '80s.

I had two boa constrictors. There is no law against owning exotic snakes. But when they finally got to 7 feet long, I could no longer find enough rats to feed them. So I gave them the Junior College to be used in hands-one education classes for kids. I was no way irresponsible, as I did not just dump them into the Everglades.