Bear attack highlights lax Ohio exotic pet laws ( CT and FL...)

ap ^ | August 31, 2010 | JULIE CARR SMYTH

[george76]

The bear that recently killed a caretaker in a Cleveland suburb was the latest example of animal violence in a state that has some of the nation's weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them.

The death in Ohio and attacks elsewhere - including the maiming of a Connecticut woman by her friend's pet chimpanzee and a 2-year-old Florida girl squeezed to death by her family's python - highlight that the patchwork of federal, state and local laws on keeping dangerous wild animals at home has holes.

After a friend's 200-pound pet chimpanzee mauled and blinded a Connecticut woman in 2009, state lawmakers voted to ban ownership of large primates and other potentially dangerous animals, such as bears, leopards and wolves.

Since the Florida girl was suffocated by her family's Burmese python last year, it has become illegal for individuals there to own them and six other large, exotic reptile species.

Exotic pet ownership also includes the risk of infectious disease, damage to the environment when pets are set free or escape, and ...

"People see wild animals and they see them as cute, as something they want to have, want to hold, want to covet," Roberts said. "Then they get bigger and more dangerous and the owner is in over their head."

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Freedom is so inconvenient for control freaks.

[bcsco]

I consider it weeding out the gene pool. If one’s dumb enough to own a wild animal, considering it a pet, then one should be prepared for the consequences.

[Frenchtown Dan]

Leave the wild animals where they need to be. Don’t import them. If you want an animal, go to a shelter and get a pet there. There are plenty of animals in shelters that need a home.

The Everglades in Florida are getting overrun with pythons, anacondas, and who knows what else. More and more exotic animals are taking over and replacing our native species.

Meanwhile domestic pets are euthanized every day.

[from occupied ga]

The Everglades in Florida are getting overrun with pythons, anacondas

OTO I've never been kept awake by the neighbor's python barking all night.

[TheBattman]

If it wasn’t a bear, it would be a pit bull.... what’s the difference? They both are genetically and naturally disposed towards violence.....

But all that being said - if owners of pets were held fully responsible for the actions of their pets... regardless of if they are bears, lions, snakes, dogs, or hamsters... hold owners fully responsible - then it is their decision to take the risk.

[goat granny]

I would agree with you if the animal would only attack the owner, but innocence are sometimes the victim...

[a fool in paradise]

PING

[Frenchtown Dan]

Well, when your neighbor’s python gets a little too big for them to deal with (and it will if it’s fed enough) just hope you don’t find that it’s crawled into your house late at night.

[bcsco]

So, there’s gotta be a law, right? What about the elderly driving? We’ve had news stories almost yearly about an elderly driver plowing into unsuspecting pedestrians. Shouldn’t there be a law preventing anyone over a certain age of being behind the wheel? After all, driving exams apparently didn’t weed them out.

[Right Wing Assault]

I’ve seen people take these bears to a high school and have a teacher or a big kid wrestle one of them.

I’m surprised they haven’t killed anyone at these shows.

[Slings and Arrows]

I support the right to keep and arm bears.

[a fool in paradise]

I’ve seen people take these bears to a high school and have a teacher or a big kid wrestle one of them.

I brought a live bear to school once for Show and Live To Tell....

[AnotherUnixGeek]

I consider it weeding out the gene pool. If one’s dumb enough to own a wild animal, considering it a pet, then one should be prepared for the consequences.

Taking a large, active predator and penning it up in a small cage is dangerous not only to the owner but to any neighbors if the animal breaks loose. These animals are far stronger than any human and equipped to bring down far larger prey than any human. It's also remarkably selfish and cruel - a tiger or bear used to patrolling dozens of square miles in a day is going to be about as happy locked up in a cage as it's owner would be.

Unless people are willing to meet some minimum standards for zoos, including keeping the animals securely away from people and ensuring that the animals are given room to roam and treated well, they probably should leave the exotics in the wild where they belong.

[LucyT]

[bcsco]

Unless people are willing to meet some minimum standards for zoos, including keeping the animals securely away from people and ensuring that the animals are given room to roam and treated well, they probably should leave the exotics in the wild where they belong.

I agree. I don't agree that more laws are needed restricting human behavior. If a person wants to maintain such "pets" then that person should be shunned and avoided, IMO. And if a pet ever gets free and attacks a human or other pet, the owner should be sued into bankruptcy.

[Slings and Arrows]

[from occupied ga]

just hope you don’t find that it’s crawled into your house late at night.

Mmmm - fried python with nouc mam sauce goes with the thit cho and mam tom. A python that big can't squeeze unde a door like a cockroach, and unlike Alabama and Louisiana most Georgia houses have glass in their windows.

[TheOldLady]

Let freedom ring! And growl, slash, and squeeze.

[Eaker]

OTO I've never been kept awake by the neighbor's python barking all night.

I have. Get'em liquored up and they get get loud.