Hedren has devoted much of her life to rescuing big cats at her Shambala Preserve north of Los Angeles, home to 53 seized or abandoned exotic cats, and she doesn’t think they make good pets.
While the slaughter was chilling, it was truly panic inducing that an unstable owner had accumulated such a collection of dangerous animals.
Yet, by some estimates, there are thousands of tigers in captivity in American backyards — more than there are in the wild on the planet.
In fact, it’s easier in some states to buy a tiger or lion from a breeder than it is to adopt a kitten from a shelter.
That’s likely to change after the Zanesville stampede drew the attention of lawmakers around the country.
Legislation has been proposed in Congress that would ban private ownership of exotic cats.
The Zanesville animals may have forced the issue into the open, but it certainly isn’t the first tragedy involving private cats.
The two were not hunting, but prosecutors say they violated the law, which prohibits using an aircraft to harass animals.
One leader of the cat fight is actress and animal activist Tippi Hedren, best known for being terrorized by crows in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.
“Hedren has devoted much of her life to rescuing big cats at her Shambala Preserve north of Los Angeles, home to 53 seized or abandoned exotic cats, and she doesn’t think they make good pets.”.
And this scenario brings into focus the need to properly maintain corridors for such dispersal of wild animals,” Talukdar suggested.. M Firoz Ahmed, a senior biologist at Aaranyak, who led the camera trapping work in Kaziranga, said that the tall grass in the park proved to be a big challenge in the exercise. “Through this exercise we have also tried to train the staff of the forest department and make them a resource during Phase IV monitoring of tigers in Kaziranga,” Ahmed added.. Actor and philanthropist, Leonardo DiCaprio, has spoken out again over the dangers of privately owned large cats, and the animal cruelty it often leads to.. DiCaprio had been very vocal on this topic in October 2011, after the tragic killing of more than 50 escaped exotic animals from a backyard menagerie near Zanesville, OH, and is re voicing his concerns again now.. Support the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act that would ban the private possession of big cats by sending a letter to your Member of Congress.. Support the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act that would ban the private possession of big cats by sending a letter to your Member of Congress.. Using twitter and facebook, the actor has warned about the Zanesville tragedy and how restrictions and bans need to be put into place in order to prevent this from happening again. ”Tigers, lions and cougars are kept as pets in the US in alarming numbers…often leading to mistreatment and cruelty towards the animals themselves, but also diminishing big cat conservation around the world,” Leonardo posted on his facebook wall. He added, “Let’s prevent another Zanesville, Ohio tragic incident from happening again and take action to ban private ownership of big cats in the US.
When accidents happen and these wild cats are released into our neighborhoods, it causes panic, puts a strain on our local public safety responders and is extremely dangerous,” McKeon said. He believes his bill will protect the public and the cats.In Ohio, the state Senate recently passed a bill that would ban new ownership of lions, monkeys and other exotic animals, but allows current owners to keep their animals by obtaining a new state issued permit by 2014 and meeting other strict conditions. It now goes to the House for consideration. Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Agriculture announced Monday that it will return five surviving exotic animals, including two leopards, to Terry Thompson’s widow, Marian Thompson.Virginia, Arizona, Missouri, West Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana and Oklahoma are also considering exotic animal bans, according to Uappeal, an exotic animal lobbying group.Currently, no single agency oversees how big cats are kept or treated. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums and USDA have some regulations. Some states, counties and cities have laws but many don’t.The federal bill has the backing of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Born Free USA and other groups. But fans of the majestic beasts are in an uproar.”.
Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Agriculture announced Monday that it will return five surviving exotic animals, including two leopards, to Terry Thompson’s widow, Marian Thompson.
All a ban law will do is force all these people to go underground and it will not help the animals at all,” said Joseph Schreibvogel, president of the United States Zoological Association, which advocates on behalf of wild animal owners.Lynn Culver, executive director of the Feline Conservation Federation, thinks the number of people who keep exotic cats as pets has been hugely inflated by proponents of the House bill. She says the bill will interfere with captive conservation and bring an end to circus and stage acts and cats in movies and on television.”.
Independent zoos will be allowed to keep their existing animals but when the cats die, there will be zoos without big cats and that’s tragic,” Culver said. “Big cats are charismatic species, key to the success of any zoo or wildlife exhibit.
Ciaran Song is a business journalist based in Seoul, Korea. Ciaran has a passion for financial markets and breaking news stories and loves writing about business news, stock market, and economic opinions that matters most to its audience. Ciaran spends a lot of time discovering and researching latest financial markets and industry news stories in order to make sure the latest and greatest stories are brought to you first on BigBoardNews.com.
