Texas legislators are considering a law that would ban the possession of big cats – tigers, lions, cougars, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars etc. – and “non-human primates.”
Animal-rights activists are declaring this to be a good thing, because they don’t want to see wild animals kept in captivity by people who don’t know what they’re doing with them. I agree with the legislation, but I also see it as a human-rights concern, given the danger these creatures pose to human beings.
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/03/21/lawmakers-discuss-regulating-ownership-large-anima/
Remember the poor woman who had her face torn off by the chimpanzee? Or how about the young woman recently mauled to death by a lion? Both of the animals involved were killed. The disfigured woman has been fitted with a new face.
But the issue here isn’t just about the safety of the animals, although as an animal lover I consider it important. The more critical consideration is for human beings who are put in harm’s way in the presence of these animals.
State Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande City, has proposed House Bill 1015, which would ban possession of these exotic creatures by those who aren’t associated with an accredited zoo. “The ownership of wild animals are a serious problem and a threat to human safety,” Guillen told the Texas Tribune. They spread disease and, of course, can turn on their human captors.
I’ve been exposed only a couple of times in my life to big cats. Once in Oregon, some folks from a wildlife sanctuary in the southern part of the state brought a fully grown cheetah into our office in suburban Portland on a promotional tour. I will admit up front that the sight of that animal scared the daylights out of me – until he began sucking on my fingers while purring like a 150-pound kitten. The next time came many years later in Amarillo, when the financial institution with which I do business had a jaguar in its office; that cat is the official mascot of the company. He, too, was a big baby.
I’ve lucked out in my exposure to these animals. Too many others haven’t been so fortunate.
Rep. Guillen’s bill makes sense because it protects animals … and humans.