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Hsu$ Whiny Pacelli blog
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by tigers9 on July 6, 2009
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http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2009/07/exotic-pets.html
July 06, 2009
There Oughta Be Laws Against Exotic Pets
Though it’s still hard to accept any hedging when cruelty is involved, you can understand the reluctance of politicians to take on some issues, such as confinement of animals on factory farms or animal testing. There are monied interests on the other side, and they work hard to preserve the status quo. It often takes a big lift for us to get that sort of legislation moving, since many politicians want to avoid confronting tough issues.
But there’s no reasonable political explanation for dithering on the issue of keeping dangerous exotic animals as pets. It seems perfectly foolish on its face to keep a lion, a chimpanzee, or a Burmese python as a pet. These wild animals live by the unforgiving code of nature and they are fully capable of killing adults. A woman in Connecticut was severely disfigured earlier this year by a pet chimp. They can make especially quick work of children.
© iStockphoto
Every state and the federal government should establish policies to crack down on keeping dangerous wild animals as pets, but some states continue to be outliers, including Missouri, Ohio, and other centers of the exotic pet trade. Oregon did just pass a tough, comprehensive law in 2009, and Congress did enact a law in 2003 restricting the trade in big cats. But Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) continues to block the Captive Primate Safety Act, which would ban the trade in chimps and other primates as pets. The House passed the bill earlier this year, as introduced by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), and Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and David Vitter (R-La.) are leading the issue in the Senate, but haven’t been able yet to overcome Coburn’s stalling tactics.
Yet, the human toll from wild animals kept as pets continues to mount. Last week, an eight-foot Burmese python escaped from an aquarium, slithered into a bedroom, and asphyxiated a 2-year-old toddler. She was the fourth person to be killed by a pet python in the United States since 2006. It follows an incident earlier this year in Las Vegas, when a 3-year-old boy was squeezed to the point of unconsciousness by an 18-foot reticulated python the father was keeping in their home.
These huge constrictors are not pets. In addition to the serious risks to people, Burmese pythons are upsetting the balance of Florida's ecosystems as they prey on endangered species and even challenge alligators for apex predator status. From a small population of escaped or abandoned pets, Burmese pythons have become established in the Everglades, numbering perhaps 25,000, according to some estimates.
The HSUS applauds Sen. Bill Nelson's proposed legislation (S. 373) and the companion bill introduced by Rep. Kendrick Meek (H.R. 2811) to add pythons to the federal injurious species list, prohibiting their import and interstate commerce for the pet trade. The Congress should not delay in enacting that bill, along with the Captive Primate Safety Act.
State laws are important, and we work aggressively on that front, but the Congress too needs to speak on this subject. These dangerous animals are sold through a national and international network of exotic animal dealers and even over the Internet, and effective policy action must include imports and interstate transport of exotic animals.
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RE: Hsu$ Whiny Pacelli blog
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by atrox56 on July 7, 2009
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I am so grateful for people like you and elected officials caring for me and my safety. I believe you said there were four deaths by pet snakes in the last few years! How about the 12 fatal dog attacks? What about the 8 people who lost their lives when some family horse went crazy? You failed to add them in. Snakes make the head lines because they are the animal ignorant people love to hate. If you can not understand it, it must be bad! is the mentality of most ignorant narrow minded frightened people. Why don't you pick a cause that is realy killing children? like dope, alcohol, reckless driving, DWI, the list goes on and on. Your rhetoric has been shouted by the thousands and here it is again, Please pick something new, I for one am getting sick of this stuck record. four deaths a year by captive snakes? More die from bee stings, why not round up all of the bees and drown them in the local pond? There, you have your next project, now get busy and start rounding up those bees, start with the local guy that sells honey! I bet he knows where there are some bees just waiting for you to surround and destroy.
Get a book on reptiles and don't open your mouth to anyone until you have read it from cover to cover. I hate talking to people who know less the I have forgotten, it is a one sided conversation. Get a life
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RE: Hsu$ Whiny Pacelli blog
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by tigers9 on July 7, 2009
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i hope your rant (which i agree with) was directed at wayne Pacelle who wrote the blog which I just posted for information here
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RE: Hsu$ Whiny Pacelli blog
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by tigers9 on July 7, 2009
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I think only the first 2/3 of your psot is true;-)
"z we are all mad "
---
pictigaster1 wrote: <No z we are all mad at you LOL. >>
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