[FEL-L] Fwd: [Phoenix_Exotics] And API is on it already

Tue Dec 5 21:01:28 CST 2006

Bad mojo again.... everyone get out your pencils and papers. This is something we should fight against. Even if you don't agree with private keeping of what you'd consider "dangerous" pets, it never stops there. That's how come so many people wet themselves over the very concept of a "wolfdog" or "pitbull".... "rottweiler".... One New York cat was ordered destroyed cuz it was deemed an "attack cat". I know this might sound alarmist, but it doesn't stop cuz the misguided and misinformed people behind it don't understand the ramifications of what they're pushing through.  In my local municipality people wigged out about wolfdogs that weren't even in the municipal borders, and one person's pet alligator that was appropriately contained. They passed a complete ban stating "No person or persons may own or possess exotic animals within the city limits." Now, outwardly that means no big animals that will munch your children if they ever got out (the typical public hysteria), but
 also inadvertently includes wolfdogs, parakeets and all caged birds not native to the United States (and if they ARE native to the US they fall under the migratory bird act... oops), and your son's guinea pig and hamster. Oopsie. So what to do now? Everyone has to give up Petey the Parakeet and Hermine the Hamster? Does the powers that be selectively enforce the law on only the people they see fit? Mr. Brown's son gets to keep the guinea pig, but heaven forbid Mr. Jackson keep his 8 year old wolfdog, and her litter has to be summarily executed? Or do you just ignore the law completely as if the dingbats never created it? So many questions that apparently no one thought to ask before passing this "ordinance in the purpose of public safety".  But that's just my experience... and also one of many reasons I started the organization I'm involved with.  "The common phrase goes "Live and learn", but extensive experience has shown me that many more people just go on living long
 after they've ceased learning." - Mark Twain

  Tim Fuller
  President, NEOPOA

runeraion <rrooney at ucwphilly.rr.com> wrote:
  To: Phoenix_Exotics at yahoogroups.com
From: "runeraion" <rrooney at .....>
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:57:45 -0000
Subject: [Phoenix_Exotics] And API is on it already

        For Immediate Release: December 5, 2006

**Bear attack renews call for immediate legislative action banning
private ownership of dangerous exotic animals**

House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee hearing to be held
12/6/06

Akron, OH - The Animal Protection Institute (API), a national animal
advocacy organization, is today renewing calls on Ohio legislators to
immediately ban the ownership of dangerous wild and exotic animals
after a 4-year-old boy's finger was reportedly severed by a bear at
the Tuscarawas Wildlife Ranch. This is the fourth serious incident
involving injury by exotic animals in Ohio in the past six months.

API has repeatedly called on legislators to act on the public safety
and animal welfare concerns it documented in a recent investigation
into the state of exotic animal ownership and oversight in Ohio. This
investigation spawned a recent report by the ABC news show,
"20/20", which documented similar concerns at facilities in Ohio,
where people, even children, were allowed direct contact with dangerous
wild animals, animals were kept in substandard conditions and animals
were treated inhumanely.

"API has provided clear, documented evidence that the private
ownership of dangerous exotic animals presents a real danger to the
public," says Nicole Paquette, Director of Legal and Government
Affairs at API. "These incidents continue to corroborate our
findings: the USDA is incapable of regulating private facilities and
state legislation is required to oversee private owners."

In the last eight months, API has filed five complaints with the USDA
regarding Animal Welfare Act violations at five Ohio facilities.

API is currently working with Representative George Distel, who has
introduced HR 643, a bill that regulates the private ownership of
dangerous animals. The bill places significant restrictions on how
these animals are to be housed and cared for. The House Agriculture and
Natural Resources Committee will be hearing testimony from
Representative Distel tomorrow. The Committee will decide whether to
hold a public hearing on this bill.

Ohio is one of only 11 states with no laws prohibiting the private
possession of exotic animals such as wolves, cougars, tigers, bears,
primates, and dangerous reptiles.

"We're hoping that these continued incidents spur the legislature
to hold a public hearing to discuss the serious public safety concerns
surrounding the keeping of these animals in private hands," says
Paquette. "There is absolutely no reason for the general public to be
keeping bears, lions, tigers, and primates as pets without any
oversight or restriction. It's a horrible life for animals and in
terms of public safety, an accident waiting to happen."

"The question is-how many accidents have to happen before
legislators act to protect the public rather than the interests of a
small group of individuals?" Paquette adds.

Other recent incidents in Ohio include the mauling of a woman by a
USDA-licensed neighbor's escaped bear, a man bitten by a monkey he
had acquired as a pet, and a USDA veterinarian attacked by a tiger
owned by Lorenza Pearson, a USDA-license holder awaiting the outcome of
his recent trial on more than 950 violations of the federal Animal
Welfare Act.

API works to end animal cruelty and exploitation through legislation,
litigation, and public education. API is a nationally recognized leader
on exotic animal legislation and assists states in drafting and passing
legislation. API also manages a Primate Sanctuary that is currently
home to more than 400 primates, many of whom were rescued from abusive
or exploitative private ownership situations. For more information,
visit www.api4animals.org.

B-roll footage and still photos from API's investigation are
available upon request.

Contact: Zibby Wilder, Animal Protection Institute, 916.447.3085 x205

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