Reposted with permission from my friend and exotic animal owner, George Krause. Saved me a lot of typing
In Ohio we are dealing with a major crisis at this very moment. The tragedy that ultimately ended in the death of over 50 exotic animals has fueled the fire for animal rights groups to place bans on private exotic animal ownership in Ohio. I am an exotic animal owner. I do everything by the book. I have my permits, and my exotics have the best of the best as far as their living space, diet and enrichment, and much much love and attention. I do agree there are those that do not have the experience or knowledge needed to own these animals. It does take a lot of experience, patience and know how to raise an exotic pet. I have studied exotic animals as well as domestic animals for over 20 years now. I have one bobcat and a muntjac deer. We raised our bobcat from 4 weeks of age as well as our deer. He is our baby and looks to us as his parents. Exotic animals such as bobcats have very high intelligence levels. They are absolutely not an animal for everyone, but for those who have the experience and knowledge there is nothing more rewarding than coming home each day and being greeted at the door by a 50 pound bobcat jumping into your arms and licking your face and purring like a freight train, so happy to see you, and playing to no end , following you everywhere you go, and falling asleep in the crook of your arms every night.
We are facing a major challenge right now to keep our rights to own these beautiful animals. I do agree that in Ohio our laws are lacking in how easy it is to obtain an exotic pet. I counsel people every day in exotic ownership. I volunteer and charge nothing to help out anyone interested in owning an exotic pet. I have probably talked more people out of owning an exotic pet than those that have decided that an exotic is the right match for them. It is a challenge every single day, but there is nothing more rewarding in my book than exotic ownership. Our right to own is being threatened by the Animal rights groups right now. They are proposing laws that will prohibit the buying and selling of exotic animals, and the ownership of them as well. There is the possibility that even the people that already own exotics will have theirs taken away. If this happens and people's exotics are taken away they will be put down. Most if not all of the exotic sanctuaries in Ohio are full. So the only option is that they will be put down. I have followed all of the laws pertaining to exotic ownership. I have my permit. I have a secure home with double door entries at all doorways to prevent escapes and I have a large enclosure that our animals can go in and out of at will. There are irresponsible exotic owners, just like irresponsible domestic animal owners. I agree that new regulations should be in order to weed out the irresponsible owners, but a complete ban is just uncalled for and unfair to us responsible owners.
I have done some research on animal attacks and bites in the United States over the past 10 years and the results are pretty alarming. Statistics do not lie and the findings are quite alarming. My statistics and information came from The National Safety Council. Here are their findings
In the U.S. each year there are more than 4.7 million dog bites and attacks. Over 30 of those are fatal. Most domestic dog attacks are those dogs that are chained up on too short of chains, or those who break their chains. Studies prove that dogs that are chained are many more times likely to be mal-adjusted and mean tempered. In many cases of dog bites and attacks nothing is done. No charges filed and nothing done to the owners. Dog bites range from simple puncture wounds, to major lacerations, to dismemberment and death to the victims. There are leash laws in many states and cities across the U.S. but rarely are owners charged, warned or convicted of any wrongdoing when their dogs are not properly contained. People that fall victim to dog bites and attacks are very likely to suffer not only physical injuries but mental and emotional scars that last a lifetime. On a side note, I had a student two years ago that was visiting a friend and got mauled by the friend's dog. She has endured two surgeries to reconstruct her nose and part of her face. Nothing was ever done to the owners and they still own the dog. I had to fence in our yard with a foot wooden privacy fence to prevent my neighbors pit bull from killing our dogs because our neighbor keeps his pit bull on a 6 foot chain, and the dog is constantly breaking the chain. The dog gets no attention. It is naturally mean and will attack anything that it sees. The police have done nothing to stop this.
Statistics show that we are 400 times more likely to be killed by a horse than by an exotic animal. Deaths by captive pet bears per year are .125% less than one person per year. Deaths by reptiles are 1 person per year. Deaths by captive large cats such as tigers and lions, cougars and such are less than one per year. On an average over the last 20 years 3 people per year are killed by exotic animals in the U.S. compared to that of over 30 domestic dogs alone.
Random death statistics that have nothing to do with exotic animals, 11 people per year are killed by fireworks, 26 by floods, 32 by earthquakes, 47 by lightening, 66 by hornets, bees and wasps, 75 by storms, 417 by falling off of ladders, and 515 by drowning, 715 by discharged firearms, 742 by air and space travel, 926 by all terrain vehicles, 1225 by drowning, 3676 by riding motorcycles, and over 44,000 by car accidents.
Statistics prove that less than 3 people are killed by exotic animals each year, most of those being the larger predators like lions, tigers, bears and large reptiles. In my findings no one has ever been killed by a bobcat, African Serval, or Caracal, which are all smaller species of wildcats.
I believe these statistics speak for themselves. There are many more irresponsible domestic animal owners than that of exotic animal owners. A complete ban, and for our exotic animals to be taken away from us would be absurd. My animals pose no danger to any of the public. I believe that if a person has the training and hands on experience with exotics there should be no reason that they should be denied that right to own the animal that they want. With the larger animals like the lions, tigers, bears.....The training obviously should be more extensive. An exotic animal needs adequate space to live in, as far as their enclosure, and indoor living space. I have been at some zoos where tigers are living in spaces not suitable for such large animals. A good example of that is the zoo in the large city north of Canton. (not mentioning the name) There are four tigers in an enclosure suitable for a small cat like a bobcat or Serval. In my book that is not acceptable. That is one reason that more regulations need to be put in place. The other reason is that a lot of people just think it woul be cool to own an exotic pet like a bobcat, but as they grow and mature they find that they cannot handle their behaviors. Training and education would prepare individuals for what they are going to encounter as exotic animal owners. Too many exotic animals are in shelters because of this very reason. People find that they just cannot handle the behaviors, or the breeders that they bought them from sugar coated what they would be like.
I love owning my bobcat. He is a challenge every day, but I have a lot of experience, and am prepared for his behaviors and know how to handle any situation that should arise that could be a problem. Our bobcat is gentle and friendly and very sociable, and that is because of our experience with exotc animals.
WHen there is one incident with exotic animals, the animal rights groups fight as hard as they can to place bans on them. This is not right or fair. In my opinion the focus should be placed on more important things like the 4.7 million dog attacks that happen each year, and over 30 deaths by domestic dogs. Exotic animals are not the problem, and that is proven by the statistics. I think that people do not know very much at all about exotic animals and just think they are wild killers, which is not the case at all. No one has the right to decide anything about exotics unless they know exotics. 99% of people do not know anything about exotics except from what they read in the paper about an isolated incident or what they see at the zoo. Exotic animals are the most loving caring, and intelligent animals that love their owners. I ask anyone who is unfamiliar with exotics to visit an exotic sanctuary or an owner with an exotic animal and form your own opinion. Don't just form it from what you read. Like I said I counsel prospective owners everyday on exotic ownership and am happy to speak to anyone that has any questions about exotic pets. Please dont let our government take away another one of our rights. Slowly our rights are being taken away one by one. Thanks for reading and sorry for such a long letter, but the message is so important, and the statistics are the most important to remember.
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running scared, feeling threatened around your neighborhood is a heck lot scarier than a feral cat, let's face it....
