Sad about big cats

Comments

• Mary Walters Milton KeynesMember Posts: 6,959

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  It was disgusting I agree. But why oh why can't the USA have Dangerous Wild Animal licences like we have in UK? If I wanted venomous spiders with my plain ordinary tarantulas I would have to have a locked room or cabinet and pay up to £500 for a licence. To have anything on the list without a licence incurrs a hefty fine and maybe imprisonment too. That would make people think again over there.

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• Lisa Provost Member Posts: 4,486

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  Abby I understand and I'm angry too. But I watched them last night talking about it. All of those policemen grew up on farms and LOVE animals. They all explained, even the humane society did, as to why they had to do what they did. It was necessary to save lives. First of all normally, policemen don't carry tranquilizers on a normal basis and that's not what they are trained for. They are not vets or animal control, especially for wild game. They did NOT know at all what they were going to find when they pulled up to this man's property and when they got there, some of the animals were already lunging and trying to attack them. These animals were abused by this man and extremely aggressive to the point that they felt that letting them roam for miles in the dark would have put endless amounts of human lives in danger. I know that's now fair but even Jack Hannah, the animal expert agreed it had to be done. When one of Hannah's vets did get there with a trank gun, they did try to dart a couple of the animals and still the animal went nuts and came at them. It takes almost a minute for the dart to even work and it has to hit the muscle. Even the sharpest of shooters cannot see clearly in the dark. If the dart hit the bone or missed the muscle completely, none of the trank would take affect and that vet would have been dead and eaten if they hadn't taken the animal down. It's not as simple as people think, there were extreme consequences to this and it's no ones fault but the government for the lax laws, and the nut who owned all these animals and shouldn't have. The ones they were able to capture were in fact tranked and transferred to the local zoo and are being cared for in the hospital there. You can't have 50-60 man eating African animals running around a city looking to eat other animals, kids, people! As I said, the police looked like they were just devastated but were in a position of shoot or be killed and eaten. What would you do?

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• Valerie Durham Member Posts: 8,724 ✭

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  It was a lose-lose situation all around--and particularly unforgivable when you consider that stricter laws and stricter enforcement of existing laws could have prevented this. What business does an individual have buying and owning exotic animals that are not only potentially dangerous but endangered? And there were enough complaints about the goings-on at the owner's property for the police and animal control to have realized that this man should not have those animals, and that something had to be done. I am appalled that, in some states, it's actually easier to get licensed to own an exotic animal than a dog or cat, or so I've read. The guy seems to have been an animal hoarder, and wasn't keeping his animals under control. People doubtlessly knew that he was coming unraveled. Ban the ownership of exotic animals except by licensed, experienced, mentally stable individuals. Or ban their ownership entirely (at least ban the ownership of large, potentially dangerous creatures, and certainly any species on the endangered list). As for the owner--it may be hard for animal lovers to sympathize with him, but it's obvious that he needed medical intervention that he didn't get. Lax licensing laws plus lax mental health care equals enormous tragedy.

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• Elizabeth Mabardy Member Posts: 2,708 ✭

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  (:((:((:((:((:(( OH MY CATS!!! This is a very tragic experience for the Beautiful Wild Big Cats! Yes, something is tragically wrong with this picture.:r I love all animals all around the Globe. I held 2 Baby Lion Cubs in my arms a couple of different times in my life. Oh, I will always "treasure" that moment. I have pictures stashed way in a big box in back of my closet for fondest memories. Now, I know this is a totally different out of control situation that was dealt with those police officers, they were there to protect & keep us all safe as possible! Bless them all as I know the scars will remain in their hearts forever! Wild Animals should be in their own natural habitat, not caged or locked upped in Zoos. As we all can see how terribly frightening Wild Animals have suffered so needlessly by Man! We have to protect & save our Wildlife, so sad to see it diminishing away. Our Poor Mother Earth! We love Jack Hanna he is just awesome & their are many more humans who truly respect & are kind, loving to all animals both Wild & Domesticated. I pray for all those who left us yesterday for peace & forever comfort & to be free in God's Kingdom! |r| I just had to vent out I feel.... Sad sacks Kally Kat & Mommy

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• Valerie Durham Member Posts: 8,724 ✭

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  Two more notes. I am not particularly fond of the idea of hybrid cat breeds, like the Savannah and the Bengal. I suppose that, if someone really, really wants an exotic looking cat, it's better to go for one of these breeds than buy a tiger or lion. But breeding these cats is complicated, and since these breeds are in high demand, that means that there will always be breeders who cut corners in order to make a buck, selling animals who are health compromised or insufficiently socialized. And again, licensing differs from state to state, and country to country. The Cat Fanciers' Association does not recognize hybrid breeds, although The International Cat Association does; I'm with the CFA. For people who absolutely MUST have an exotic looking cat, I recommend the Ocicat, which looks like a hybrid, but is instead a very clever lookalike created by interbreeding a variety of domestic cat breeds. And last: they had to shoot the monkeys, I read, because of the possibility that they were carrying Simian Herpes Virus B, which doesn't affect monkeys very seriously, but can make human beings very sick. At a glance, monkeys and chimps may look as if they pose fewer dangers to humans than lions or tigers, but do not underestimate either the diseases they may spread, or the injuries they can inflict (remember that awful chimp attack a few years ago?). I'm sure that monkey and chimp ownership is not regulated closely enough and that regulations may not be consistent or consistently applied. We have wild monkeys (macaques--the same ones that cary SHV) in Japan, and believe me, you don't want to get near them and their teeth. I simply do not understand what it is that makes people want to own an exotic animal. If I really subject myself to intense introspection, I'm not even sure I approve of zoos. But at least a well-managed zoo keeps animals healthy and under control (happiness may not be guaranteed, however), and provides an outlet for people who feel they really MUST see a real-life tiger or whatever. Too bad that it had to take a tragedy of these dimensions to really make people pay attention to the problems caused by exotic pet ownership, and the inconsistency and inadequacy of licensing laws.

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• Faye Dufour Destrehan, LA/New Orleans areaMember Posts: 4,648

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  I agree with the poster who said the police offiers did not have much choice. I worked at our local Zoo for six years (in the office), and when an animal had to be tranquilized, it was in a controlled situation. These poor animals had been abused, and would have viewed any humana as a potential threat and/or lunch. Yes, monkeys and chimps can be as dangerous as a lion or tiger. At the zoo in New Orleans where I worked, the General Curator of Animals refused to have chimps on exhibit, as he said they were more dangerous than a gorilla. I can only HOPE this makes the govenor of Ohio pass a law banning COMPLETELY the ownership of any exoic animal except in a Zoo who is a member in good standing of the Americian Zoological Association. Some mention was made of the owner's wife....why did she not step in?? Or perhpas she tried and her husband refused help. We may never know the answers. At least all these beautiful animals are now running free and safe at the Rainbow Bridge and will never know abuse again. Did get an e-mail asking me to sign a petition to ask a mall in Ohio NOT to display the tiger cubs someone wanted to show there. Have heard of this guy before....another accident waiting to happen.

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• Deborah Elise White Member Posts: 84

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  Thanks for these responses. I can almost always sleep but my mowmy really has been unable to sleep thinking about the animals who were killed. Harvey--a very beautiful cat himself may I say?--wrote: "stricter laws and stricter enforcement of existing laws could have prevented this. What business does an individual have buying and owning exotic animals that are not only potentially dangerous but endangered? And there were enough complaints about the goings-on at the owner's property for the police and animal control to have realized that this man should not have those animals, and that something had to be done." This is what is so upsetting...This tragedy was preventable. And that is why we would like to see Ohio change its laws. My Mowmy and I also agree with the probably less common or less popular thought Harvey at least alluded to: Well-run Zoos are certainly better for wild animals than ill-run private sanctuaries, but deep down we think zoos are not good places for wild animals either. Even the best zoos often discover their animals become stressed and ill and die unexpectedly. And a lot of zoos are LESS than the best. Mowmy once was lucky enough to see some lions in the (semi) wild--a vast preserved area in Botswana--and she has never been able to set foot in a zoo since. (Of course, that sort of thing would be too dangerous for me! A squirrel in the backyard is about my speed...) Let's hope this terrible event leads to some good reforms...

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• Lisa Provost Member Posts: 4,486

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  Harvey I am in complete agreement with you on everything you said, except that I personally know that the police department there has been trying to shut him down for over 15 years! They HATED this and have tried and tried and tried. But the police are not the government so it was out of their hands and it frustrates them to no end. Thank you Emma for saying that because I am getting emails saying that these cops loved the big game hunt. That is not the case here at all. I am going to stick up for them as you did and say that there would have been carnage on a grand scale with 60 large ferocious and angry, abused carnivores running around. Matter of fact, they said the last monkey they were looking for, they found his carcass because he was eaten by one of those predators. And yes, we've all seen what a monkey can do. It ripped the entire face off that poor woman awhile back remember? Even the Humane Society and all kinds of other animal rights groups agree there was little else that could have been done here and blaming the police is not fair. They were doing their job protecting the citizens. Can you imagine if someone would come out and see one of their pets or worse, their kids in one of the mouths of these animals? Seriously! The only one to blame here is the man who cowardly killed himself and more horrifically tried to murder others by what he did. And in fact, he murdered his own "pets" in the process. Doesn't make sense. I am in no way talking about the legal, clean, and regulated sanctuaries that rescue animals like this, when I talk about a ban on owning exotic animals! Maybe it makes idiots like that guy feel more powerful to abuse and starve a beautiful and rare animal. I heard his wife left him about 5 months ago. She came back to the property last night and at first was very hysterical and angry that her "kids" were killed. Until she spoke with Jack Hannah and he actually cried with her and explained to her what happened. So she must have known her husband was on the edge of a cliff mentally. For those of you that would like to see this changed, I received this petition in my email today if you'd like to sign. And NO HARVEY I DON'T MEAN YOU! I know you can't do it so please don't get mad okay?! LOL. Harvey is in Tokyo and can't sign petitions for many things. Anyways, here it is: www.change.org. just go there and you'll see it's one of the first petitions on the list.

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• Faye Dufour Destrehan, LA/New Orleans areaMember Posts: 4,648

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  Lacey....when my meowmy worked at the zoo, she got many changes to get "close up" with the animals. Since the vet knew her love of cats, at various time she was able to pet two young lionesses (hand raised by humans). She said when she got home that day her cats were NOT happy, wondering just WHAT cat she had petted. Best of allwas going into the night enclosure of the two white tigers....when the only thing between you and the tigers are thick bars (this is only the night enclosure....they had a large open area for daytime), do you realize how big and powerful they are. The tigers (Zulu and Rex) had paws the size of dinner plates....and some BIG teeth. They each weighed over 400 lbs. Her favorite was seeing the baby siberian lynx when it was only a few weeks old. It looked so much like a pet cat she would have LOVED to cuddle it. But it was only in the animal infirmary to have a checkup, and then back to mama. Guess that is why she calls me her "Panther Girl", she says I remind her of the panther at the zoo. And there are wonderful places where big cats live in comfort and safety. The actress Tippi Hedren (Melanie Griffin's mother), runs just such a place. We say a prayer for those poor animals...and belive they are running free and healthy at the Rainbow Bridge..... A sad, sad, situation in Ohio, but the police did what they had to do. As we posted earlier, hope this makes the govenor of Ohio ban ownership of such animals.

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• Lisa Provost Member Posts: 4,486

  20 October, 2011 edited 20 October, 2011

  Emma that sounds amazing for your mom! What a gift that is. My mom once rode an elephant at an animal park at a beach here in our state. She's since really against those places btw. But when she got on that elephant, she said she connected with him so much she wanted to cry. She got on his back, she rubbed his ear gently and told him she wished she could set him free back in the wild. She told him she respected him and just wanted to be close to him. He wrapped his trunk around her leg, turned her head and looked up at her with such adoration it was stunning even the trainer. He rubbed her leg with his trunk, let out a little trumpet sound after and gently started walking off with her before the trainer could even nudge him. Mom has always had the "whisperer" touch with animals. That day was a precious gift to mom, she'll never forget it. Since then she's hated circuses and anything like that. And yes, Tippi Hendren's place is wonderful and that's where any exotic and wild animal should be if it can't be in the wild. =;

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• BruceTheBoss Winslow, BuckinghamshireMember Posts: 37,079 ✭✭✭

  21 October, 2011 edited 21 October, 2011

  Heartbreaking Mum can even bring herself to read the news reports or the posts here, it's far too sad. |:|

  Bruce The Boss

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• Lisa Provost Member Posts: 4,486

  21 October, 2011 edited 21 October, 2011

  I know Bruce, it's horrible and it's really got to change.

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• Valerie Durham Member Posts: 8,724 ✭

  21 October, 2011 edited 21 October, 2011

  @Lacey--MOL, immigration laws seem to have changed in Japan, and we foreign nationals are now allowed to sign petitions. In fact, that seems to have been the case for quite some time now, but nobody told me!

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