I find it now suspicious that not only one but TWO exotic animal owners have lost their lives as the debate of exotic animal ownership heats up. The first one was Sam Mazzola was found, bound, gagged with a sex toy, with his hands tied behind his back, in a waterbed and a hood on. It was proven that there was another party there (obviously) that apparently "left" before untying Sam. YET no charges of ANY kind were brought against this person, and it was ruled an accident.. ??? AYFKM???
Next case, Terry Thompson. Vietnam war vet. Spent time in prison on "gun related charges". What the papers fail to tell you is that first he WAS a vet, second he WAS a licensed arms dealer and the arms taken from his home were antique/collector items. He was up on charges with the IRS and EXPIRED licenses that evidently he has transactions done during that time. His wife apparently had left him (it is not this bloggers intention to throw her in a bad light, just stating a fact) and he came home from prison with all his affairs in a disarray as well as his animals.
Reports state that cages were CUT (Terry had keys) and that there was chicken placed all around him. He did sustain a bite to the head that evidently happened post mortem. MY question is HOW THE HELL did he (one man) release ALL of those animals without sustaining any injury.. second why cut the fences when he had keys, (some have speculated it was to prevent the retrieval of the animals) and WHY were the six animals that were spared all on the endangered list? The leopards and the Lion Tailed Macques were spared.
I agree that there are some people out there that do not need to own a dog much less a tiger, heck for that matter, they shouldn't have kids! BUT this is AMERICA! Who are WE to tell people what animal they can and cannot have and love? Bans of these animals will drive them underground because while honest citizens will comply with the law, the very elements that we seek to protect these animals against, will obtain them and then we will have no account for them. Regulation that responsible owners can comply with is the key in my humble opinion.
Then you have the people that want no one but Zoo's to have them or they should be returned to the wild. WHAT WILD? And do these people that I believe truly DO love the animals, just have no idea of the whole picture, realize that 99.9% of the captive big cats in the US today are at least 8 generations captive breds? They are acclimated to man.. which even if you did find an area to release them would surely be abut of a village somewhere.. and these cats seek man to provide food for them. Do they realize that accredited zoos are only allowed to take in so many of a species? They have to keep them until they trade off or it dies. Which brings me to the subject of WHERE do these animals go after they are too old to be on display?
There is a big picture here, and I for one believe that an all out ban on exotic animals will only serve to be the ultimate demise of the animals we truly love
