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Breakdown on reptile related fatalities in USA
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by tigers9 on March 11, 2008
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http://www.rexano.org//SafetyFrame.htm
<snip>
According to the Animal Protection Institute (API) website and various news sources, 19 people were killed by captive reptiles in the USA between 1995 and 2008, which is just one and a half death per year. (API is an animal rights group opposed to captive keeping of exotic and wild animals). For captive big cats, the rate is one fatal mauling per year.
Wild venomous snakes in the USA kill 12 or less people each year. Wild alligators kill 2-3 people per year and injure many more.
No human fatalities were attributed to captive tortoises. One few weeks old infant supposedly died as a result of salmonella infection from captive turtle; two deaths were attributed to lizards. One fatality was blamed on salmonella infection supposedly contracted from a pet Iguana, second death was blamed on monitor lizards that were found in the house with their deceased owner. Out of the remaining 16 fatalities, 9 were caused by venomous snake bite and 7 by large constrictors.
None of these deaths were caused by reptiles at large. Instead, all victims were either individuals voluntarily on the property where the animals were kept, or were the owners themselves at their own homes. No members of the public have been killed by captive reptiles in USA since 1995.
Two deaths resulting from the venomous snake bites occurred during voluntary serpent handling religious services in the church, while the remaining 7 involved the owners at their own home at their own risk and discretion.
Two of the deaths caused by large constrictors occurred to the children of the snake owners, at their own home, resulting in the parents being rightfully charged with child endangerment, some also with reckless endangerment and involuntary manslaughter. The remaining five fatalities were owners themselves, whom have accepted and know extremely well the potential risk of their hobby (occupational hazard?).
It doesn’t matter if the child died as a result of an animal attack or by other everyday activity, like drowning in the pool. The parents are responsible for their children and other responsible owners of exotics should not be punished with unfair bans because of parental mistakes of others who just happened to be fellow exotic animal owners.
Now contrast the number of deaths to spinach in the last year (2006). According to the USDA, E. coli caused 199 infections, three deaths and 31 kidney failures nationwide. Add to this that fresh raw vegetables like lettuce, spinach, tomatoes and green onions were responsible for the illness or deaths of nearly 19,000 people nationwide over a five-year period.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food borne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year. Known pathogens account for an estimated 14 million illnesses, 60,000 hospitalizations, and 1,800 deaths. Three pathogens, Salmonella, Listeria, and Toxoplasma, are responsible for 1,500 deaths each year, more than 75% of those caused by known pathogens, while unknown agents account for the remaining 62 million illnesses, 265,000 hospitalizations, and 3,200 deaths.
Furthermore, according to CDC study 1.4 million human Salmonella infections and an estimated 600 associated deaths occur each year in the United States. However, less than 1% of human Salmonella infections are caused by the “reptile-associated” serotypes.
The CDC study also reported that in the wild, the colonization of Salmonella in iguanas and toads may be related to the eating of feces, which typically contaminates food and water; insects, soil, and pond water have all been shown to carry Salmonella. In the home, reptiles and amphibians might acquire Salmonella from being fed undercooked chicken or meat or by contact with household dust, all of which have the potential to contain Salmonella.
News reported that 23-year-old pregnant woman in Missouri fell ill after purchasing live rats and mice to feed her pet python. No salmonella was isolated from the culture of the snake feces, and the rodents and their cages weren't available for testing. The woman's prematurely born baby also had salmonella and was in intensive care for 56 days before going home.
What this means is that many captive reptiles might not be the primary source of infection, they got infected by their food, raw chicken, eggs and vegetables, the same food their human owners ate.
No one is advocating banning fresh vegetables or eggs, even though they are a greater threat to public health and safety than reptiles. Considering animal rights groups advocate vegan and vegetarian diets, it seems a little hypocritical to advocate banning captive reptiles in the name of public safety when advocating a diet that causes far more risk to health and life for the general public than any captive reptile.
The odd of being killed by a captive reptile is therefore extremely low. With the current US population being 297,618,284, with one death occurring every 13-14 seconds, this translates to approximately 2,440,000 US deaths per year. With this in mind, the alleged threat of captive reptiles being a public safety issue seems ridiculous with the yearly odds of dying by captive reptile being one in 198,412,189 equaling one and a half fatalities per year.
You have a better chance of winning the lottery Jackpot (1 in 13,983,816, all six winning numbers selected) or even the elusive Mega Millions Lottery jackpot (1 in 175,711,536), than being killed by a captive reptile (1 in 198,412,189). But you must visit someone with a captive reptile to get those odds. Now compare that to deaths by escaped captive reptiles….hmm, can’t find those numbers since nobody ever died as a result of captive reptile running loose. Animal Rights groups claim to want more regulation and/or banning ownership of reptiles in the name of public safety. The odds just don’t add up.
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RE: Breakdown on reptile related fatalities in USA
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by yoyoing on March 11, 2008
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According to statistics compiled by the Ballon Council, this makes venomous snakes less deadly than balloon animals:
www.balloonhq.com/BalloonCouncil/facts.html
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RE: Breakdown on reptile related fatalities in USA
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by yoyoing on March 11, 2008
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I meant "Balloon Council". Being a balloon twister myself, all that freehandling of my creations has affected my typing.
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RE: Breakdown on reptile related fatalities in USA
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by tigers9 on March 11, 2008
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Hey, I am not anal about your spelling;-)
Thanks for that link, I updated REXANO statistics page with balloons
http://www.rexano.org/Statistics/StatisticsFrame.htm
Soda machines are worse than mambas too. Let's ban Coke machines;-)
I know I am annoying to many folks here, but I will keep repeating until you all get it here, including AZA folks;-)
I have thick skin now.
This is not about public safety issue as there is no real public safety issue, this is about perceived imaginary threat created by AR freaks who have ‘ethical’ issues with animals in cages (or cows being eaten we all shall be vegans[insert sarcasm]) and they just use the danger angle, as well as divide the animal community angle, to win and ban us all. Until now many herp folks were falling for tigers as public safety issue, now that u see ALL captive big cats, including AZA zoos, kill one person per year, the public safety issue is obviously a joke.
Z
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RE: Breakdown on reptile related fatalities in USA
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by MikeB on March 12, 2008
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The best estimates I can find on the leading casue of death from envenomation in the USA are 90-100 per year, although it may be considerably more . . . and of course this emvenomation is from bee and wasp stings and the anaphalactic shock that often accompanies it. So honeybees are statistically ten or mroe times more dangerous to the average person than black mambas, given that they are allowed to freely roam virtually every neighborhood in the land, with no government regulation or bans. And let's not get started on pollen allergies which lead to severe upper respiratory problems in many people, some of who no doubt develop pneumonia and die.
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RE: Breakdown on reptile related fatalities in USA
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by GREGLONGHURST on March 12, 2008
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The AR folks will not rest until there are no captive animals except perhaps dogs, cats & canaries, & I'm not so sure about those three. The fact that the numbers don't add up to a real public safety issue does not matter to them. These people are real, organized, & well financed. They are a serious threat to all animal keepers. If any of you are unwitting members of PETA or HSUS, you need to re-think you charitable donation choices.
~~Greg~~
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RE: Breakdown on reptile related fatalities in USA
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by Phobos on March 13, 2008
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Geeze, I'm sure glad I keep Mambas and not Coke Machines. Holy Cow! All those kids in peril when they visit McDonalds... Should I use my GG Tongs when I get a Coke from now on? I've been lucky so far.
Thanks for the fantastic info Z
Al
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RE: Breakdown on reptile related fatalities in USA
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by tigers9 on March 13, 2008
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Thanks.
Please note when we calculate the odds, we calculate “public safety”, since these laws are being passed under the guise of public safety.
We don’t calculate hobby or occupational hazard, as that would be a statistical nightmare.
We would have to have exact number of exotic owners, some only have one venomous snake, some might have 100, then we would have to know how many people have and use ladders, snow ski, bathtub and calculate and compare that to see which hobby/activity is most dangerous per person that is engaging in that particular activity,…there is no reason to do that anyway…would be interesting, but I have no time or reason to do that.
These laws are NOT being passed under the guise of ‘personal safety’, if they were, we might have to ban swimming pools stairs, tubs, ladders, sports, bleach, etc…
None of government business if I have stairs or ladders in my house and actually use them;-)
Fact we need to push to public and legislators is : privately kept exotic/wild animals are NOT a PUBLIC safety issue.
Every time I do interview with news, they always ask if me having full body contact with my cats is not dangerous, and I reply: you know, driving in Las Vegas traffic with all the drunken, crazy, lost and/or high tourists is dangerous.
Z
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