The Ohio situation. Read- this may effect us all

[snakeguy101]

In case you guys have not heard about what happened recently in Ohio, here is a run down- it's a mess.

Some mentally unstable guy was in trouble with the law and financially so he decided to open all of his animals cages (he kept lots of large exotics and endangered species like lions, tigers, bears, apes, etc...) and they ran around this town causing schools to close and disrupting everything. The local police had to come in and shoot and kill all of the animals because no one there was qualified to use a tranq gun or otherwise capture these animals. Most of the animals are now dead resulting in this:

Sickening isn't it? Anyways, all of that is in the past now- nightmare over right? WRONG!

Enter Jack Hanna aka Jungle Jack. He is a very prominent figure in the animal industry and is the director of the Columbus Zoo. He has been in a few shows on Animal Planet (back when they were good) and Nat Geo, some late night shows etc... Overall he has been a good representative of animal keepers in general- level headed, articulate, and responsible. People listen to him.

The HSUS (not to be confused with your local humane society) on the other hand has had a very openly anti-exotic animal stance from the start. They share many ideas with PETA and would like to see all animals that are not cats or dogs be banned from being owned by the general public and -get this- zoos.

Here is the problem. Jack Hanna is teaming up with the HSUS to ban the ownership of all exotic animals. They are not pushing for a reasonable permitting system, they are aiming to kill the exotic industry completely. In the wake of what happened in Ohio I am sure it will pass without opposition. This is terrible for Ohio but what about the rest of us? The Animal rights activists are always waiting for moments like these to strike. While the country is in a frenzy about how one crazy guy could keep exotics, there will be laws pushed HARD for tighter regulations. There are states currently that ban the ownership of something as simple as a corn snake (GA) and I do not want to see that happen to other states as well. Jack Hanna has the power to see these laws through to the end because unlike most of the animal righst activists, he is not crazy and people will listen to him. This is bad news for anyone with exotic animals- especially the rarer or larger varieties.

Be prepared and on the lookout for legislation in your area targeting pet owners and if you have not already, join USARK ( http://www.usark.org/ ).

 

[indiana.dutton]

I thought the same thing, I agree with very tight restrictions on who can own big cats, primates, etc. But I dont think that people realize that "exotic" includes the Betta on the kitchen counter

 

[KLee79]

Yea it wasn't cool..I live 2 counties west of where that all happen. Its a pretty big deal and jack is a prominent figure here in central ohio.

 

[snakeguy101]

he is prominent everywhere.

 

[Chefken]

Mixed feelings about this.....I am not sure the large exotic trade should continue. Of course fish are not a threat to people at all.....I find that many people who own dangerous animals are exactly the same people who should never own them. I dont care who you are; you have no business raising tigers, bears and apes of any kind at any time.

 

[snakeguy101]

What about venomous snakes or large constrictors? Also, I know plenty of people who have been keeping big cats for a while and all of them are well cared for and safely kept.

 

[blauaugigengel]

A ban on exotic animals would be a great thing!!!! Majestic animals like lions and tigers and bears and apes and the similar DO NOT belong in some hillbilly's back yard, they belong in the WILD where they SHOULD BE. How many times do people on here b!tch about people housing huge fish in a too small tank??? SAME THING APPLIES TO ANIMALS THAT DONT LIVE IN THE WATER. And as to why the animals were shot and not tranquilized? Because the sherriff and his posse are all idiot hillbillies that wanted to go on a jungle safari and shoot everything they could find. As an Ohioan that knows the type of person that lives in the Southern part of the state, I can assure you that's how it went. No one cares that 18 endangered Bengal tigers died, because shooting with tranq darts wouldnt be the same. I hope that Jack Hannah and the state and the WHOLE COUNTRY titghtens down restrictions on the exotic animal trade, because tigers dont belong on leashes in some redneck's backyard.

 

[Wiggles92]

People don't realize that a ban on all exotics will put thousands out of jobs and effectively kill a multimillion dollar industry; hopefully nothing major happens on a state or federal level.

Also, if I recall correctly, the guy who owned the animals was going to move at least the vast majority of them (if not all of them) to another sanctuary back in January, but the sheriff blocked said move for some reason.

A ban on exotic animals would be a great thing!!!! Majestic animals like lions and tigers and bears and apes and the similar DO NOT belong in some hillbilly's back yard, they belong in the WILD where they SHOULD BE. How many times do people on here b!tch about people housing huge fish in a too small tank??? SAME THING APPLIES TO ANIMALS THAT DONT LIVE IN THE WATER. And as to why the animals were shot and not tranquilized? Because the sherriff and his posse are all idiot hillbillies that wanted to go on a jungle safari and shoot everything they could find. As an Ohioan that knows the type of person that lives in the Southern part of the state, I can assure you that's how it went. No one cares that 18 endangered Bengal tigers died, because shooting with tranq darts wouldnt be the same. I hope that Jack Hannah and the state and the WHOLE COUNTRY titghtens down restrictions on the exotic animal trade, because tigers dont belong on leashes in some redneck's backyard.

I disagree that these animals should be banned rather tighter regulations are needed. There are some people who are responsible and take the needed precautions for keeping these animals, and then there are those who go about keeping these animals in the completely wrong fashion. I think that a permit system with regular inspections and stringent requirements is really all that is needed; I don't see why someone can't keep something like a tiger if they give it ample room to run and plenty of food while still maintaining a safe level of containment (double or even triple fencing; maybe moats if need be).

I do agree about what you said about the sheriff and the officers having previously live in Ohio for a few years. Their level of intelligence was displayed when they buried all of the animals rather than saving the bodies for educational uses and/or taxidermy; they could have made a ton of money from selling the bodies.

 

[mqktandy]

They didn't use tranquilizer darts for a few reasons. None including the desire to go on a safari. First reason was because they didn't have enough or any trained vets that to attend to the animals after being tranquilized. The second and more importantly it wasn't safe to do so. A tranquilized animal can still keep going for up to 8min after. Which leads to tracking issues and the possibility that it could get away or hurt someone before it went down. Also with that many animals loose in the same area it is unreasonable to ask people to put their lives in danger to attend to the drugged animal.

 

[snakeguy101]

A ban on exotic animals would be a great thing!!!! Majestic animals like lions and tigers and bears and apes and the similar DO NOT belong in some hillbilly's back yard, they belong in the WILD where they SHOULD BE. How many times do people on here b!tch about people housing huge fish in a too small tank??? SAME THING APPLIES TO ANIMALS THAT DONT LIVE IN THE WATER. No one cares that 18 endangered Bengal tigers died, because shooting with tranq darts wouldnt be the same. I hope that Jack Hannah and the state and the WHOLE COUNTRY titghtens down restrictions on the exotic animal trade, because tigers dont belong on leashes in some redneck's backyard.

Ignoring what you said about the sherrif going on a saffarri, you do realize that teh same argument against exotics could easily be made against fish right? Do you really think that a jack dempsey would live in an area the size of a 75 gallon tank its whole life in the wild? Aren't they majestic and shouldn't they be allowed to live a free life too!? I say this only to point out your inconsistency. Also most fish are actually wild caught compared to the reptile and mammal industry which has under gone a huge shift to captive breeding in the past few years.

People DO care that these animals died. It is a damn shame they had to but it is not the sheriffs fault. do you know anything about M99? It is extremely toxic to humans and needs to be carefully handled by trained professionals. not police officers who have no idea how to work with this stuff.