The Ohio situation. Read- this may effect us all

[Bderick67]

Fail post of month. Congratz b!!! I will now kindly ask you to leave the exotic animal part of mfk. My croc is no ones god damn buiseness other than my own. And I provid a better enclosure than many zoos.

Maybe you can or maybe you can't either way your "croc" has nothing to do with it. I know you want it to be, but it fails in comparison to what Lions, tigers, primates or bears can do, regarding dangers to the owner or the general public in case of release/escape.

 

[snakeguy101]

Seems like a logical proposal to me, omitting the reptiles of coarse. Personal can't understand the desire nor the need to own any exotic. Also the comparison of any of these exotics to dogs, cats, small mammals and fish is absurd. Not to mention the comparison to a kitchen knife How can anyone logically compare the training and knowledge it takes to own an exotic as to that of owning a kitchen knive.

did you read over the part that states an exotic could be "Any other animal designated by the chief in rules adopted under this section."? The chief could decide that stone fish, lion fish, electric catfish, rays, piranha, etc... could all be considered a dangerous exotic animals! The "Cheif" does not need to do any research or have anyone vote on it- if he says it could pose a threat then it is banned- completely- not even with permits could you obtain them. If this cheif reads a misinforned article that says fish can transmit salmonella to people he could essentially on a whim BAN THEM FOREVER.

Look man, if you don't want to keep exotics then don't. There are many of us that do want to keep them and have the ability to do so safely. Why should your opinion effect our rights when we pose no threat to you? I am all for a REASONABLE permit system (such as the one for venomous snakes in FL) but many times the permit systems are insanely strict and often do not apply to zoos- only private keepers (as is the exotic venomous permit in GA). This makes it impossible for private persons to obtain the permit.

They need to go to a group of responsible animal keepers and ask their opinions and steer clear of any animal rights organization such as the HSUS (who have openly admitted to wanting to ban all captive animals, dangerous or not). Unfortunately, they went straight for the nut cases.

 

[Bderick67]

Yes I did, but I'm not of the paranoid type. If in order to keep exotic LARGE DANGEROUS MAMMALS banned I have to give up ownership of my arowana, so be it. I'll fine something safer to keep.


Animal ownership is a privilege not a right

 

[snakeguy101]

It is amazing to me how many exotic pet owners (on an exotic pet forum) are totally okay with banning exotic pets. Also doesn't it bother you that the Gov't is telling you what you can and cannot do when it does not effect anyone else?

 

[Bderick67]

It is amazing to me how many exotic pet owners (on an exotic pet forum) are totally okay with banning exotic pets. Also doesn't it bother you that the Gov't is telling you what you can and cannot do when it does not effect anyone else?

Within reason, no. Problem is eventually what you do, does/can/will effect someone else.

 

[snakeguy101]

Within reason, no. Problem is eventually what you do, does/can/will effect someone else.

how so? I have plenty of safety protocols for my venomous snakes and I know people with large mammals (one with a brown bear and one with a pair of mountain lions) that are equally (if not more) careful with their animals.

I also know a couple of people that keep lemurs. Those will be banned too but are in no way dangerous.

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

Within reason, no. Problem is eventually what you do, does/can/will effect someone else.

In what way? How often do privatly held exotics escape? Now how about zoo? MOST privatly held animals will neve, let me repeat, NEVER affect anyone beyond those caring for it. Period, even if in your mind it does, reality dictacts other wise.

 

[Nile Perch]

This is certainly an argument that I converse about often. Some animals indeed should not be kept by the vast many simply because of the lack of understanding and care for the animal. This in result may lead to dire neglect, about or the release of an animal that can harm the near by ecosystem.
Here in South FL there are many people who think releasing their large exotic fish and snakes is the "right" thing to do. As a result laws have to be implemented to reduce this mindless activity. Those who pay are the responsible owner of these exotics pets.
So I'm not saying to stop the purchasing of these large exotics all together. After all I am a part of this monster fish keeping community...but definitely restrict accordingly.
Thats all c:

 

[snakeguy101]

Within reason, no. Problem is eventually what you do, does/can/will effect someone else.

But zoos should be allowed because what they do never effects anyone right?

In 1994, David Marshall, a senior keeper at Metro Zoo (now called Zoo Miami) was mauled to death by a 350 pound tiger named Lucknow.

In 2007, a Bengal tiger escaped her holding facility at the San Francisco Zoo, killing one zoo visitor and injuring two others.

Almost everyone in the zoological and conservation community opposes exotic animals being kept as pets by private owners.

“We do not support non-accredited facilities nor individuals that choose to keep these animals for personal reasons,” said Ron Magill of Zoo Miami.

I also remember on Aug. 28, 2010 Zoo Atlanta officials were working around the clock to find a rattlesnake that escaped.

According to a press release, the tiger rattlesnake that had been transported to the Zoo from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday escaped from quarantine.

DALLAS — Dallas Zoo officials said they can’t explain how a 300-pound gorilla escaped from his enclosure, injuring four people before he was shot to death.

Police evacuated an estimated 300 people from the zoo compound Thursday and killed Jabari, a 13-year-old male western lowland gorilla, after he charged at officers.

The parents of a 17-year-old boy killed by a tiger at the San Francisco Zoo said the attack has forever ruined Christmas for them, while police are investigating whether someone helped the tiger escape.

The area of the zoo in which the Siberian tiger killed Carlos Sousa of San Jose has been deemed a crime scene, San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong said.

The zoo's director, Manuel Mollinedo, said officials have not determined how Tatiana, who weighed more than 300 pounds, escaped from her exhibit area and attacked three patrons Tuesday before police shot and killed her.

A 20-inch cobra slithered out of its cage in the Bronx Zoo Saturday, forcing the exhibit to close while workers searched for the venomous serpent, officials said.

The adolescent Egyptian cobra went missing from an off-exhibit enclosure sometime in the afternoon and zookeepers quickly closed off the Reptile House, officials said.

Workers canvassed the building, eying several closed-in spaces that the reptile would naturally be drawn to coil inside, officials said.

The snake - native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula - was not recovered Saturday night, officials said.

Alphie - a Japanese Macaque escaped from the Pittsburgh Zoo in 1987. He went on a tour of the local countryside, showing up as a simian version of Where's Waldo before finally being captured in Ohio six months later.

a female Gorilla escaped because Pittsburgh Zoo just can't contain their attractions! The unnamed female vaulted the sixteen foot wide dry moat to grab an untrimmed piece of inch wide bamboo. She used this to climb the sixteen foot wall and then hopped the four foot retaining wall. Her hour long reign of terror over the zoo's garbage cans ended when she was lured into the women's restroom with Hershey kisses.

Ken Allen - a Orangutan born and raised at the San Diego Zoo, Ken Allen wanted freedom. Dubbed the Hairy Houdini, Allen escaped three times in the summer of 1985, spending each exhibition wandering the zoo grounds and looking at the other exhibits. Baffled as to how he escaped, zoo keepers tried to get video surveillance but Ken was on to them and continued to slip past. Even with employees undercover as tourists, the orangutan was able to spot them and avoid detection. Only when other apes started to escape with Ken did zoo officials give up; spending over $40,000 on renovations to the enclosure and ending Ken Allen's mini-vacations.

Reggie an American alligator was dumped in an urban lake in L.A., Reggie evaded capture for two years; costing the city over $180,000 and a lot of pride. When he was finally brought in and wrangled into L.A. Zoo, he showed them all how he felt about this indignity by immediately climbing the five foot wall around his area to go lounge by the loading dock.

a Japanese macaque named Opps who escaped her pen and was at large in the Western Virginia mountain wilderness/suburbia for more than a week before she was spotted in a nearby backyard,

Zoos are often times have more escapes and endangers to the public more than any private keeper. They are not the "holy grail" of captive animals since they have plenty of mistakes and I am not saying that private keepers don't but you hear about it a lot less and there are also a lot more private keepers than there are zoos.

 

[Swampy459]

I just read this bill and the problem is that the way it is worded they are saying "The only animals you can keep are housecats and seeing eye dogs, any other animal and we will decide if you can keep it or not"

Yes, I have a problem with that. What happens when one conservation officer decides that an animal is dangerous and another thinks its not?

It bothers me that so many people here seem ok with this legislation. If they were banning cichlids or gouramis you people would be screaming from the tops of your tanks. All animal keepers should support each other. I don't keep boas or large mammals but I do support their right to.

I can't believe how many people are so OK with the government telling them what they can do and what they can't. We cannot pass legislation that will stop some nut from going crazy and beating you to death with a baseball bat, but we don't go out and ban little league games to get rid of all the bats.

Sometimes bad stuff happens. Get over it and move on. We don't need to try to legislate the danger and risk out of life.


That said, also...

The worst unintended consequence of a ban on exotic animals is that some kid somewhere who would otherwise be inspired by his pet to become a scientist or zookeeper or the next croc hunter or the next Jack Hannah may never get that inspiration.