Contact Us

Home to Phoenix

Views and News

MM-0007

Regarding HR 1725

By
Jeanne Hall

http://www.blarg.net/~boa/hb1725letter2.html

Regarding HR 1725

Imagine my surprise when I discovered via an e-mail list about legal, responsible exotic animal ownership that a ban bill had been introduced and hearings held in Olympia, which I had heard nothing about.

I am a Washington exotic cat owner.

I am an exotic cat trainer on staff with a Washington based non-profit corporation which holds a USDA exhibitor license to display our cougar, bobcat, auger buzzard, pythons, boas, alligator and other exotic animals.

I am the President of the Cascade branch of the LIOC (national non-profit corporation for exotic cats) here in Washington.

I am the President of The Phoenix Exotic Wildlife Association. (national Washington based non-profit corporation for exotic animals).

Not only had I not heard of this bill, but also no one in any of the groups mentioned about had heard. We discovered it like everyone else in the news.

The Olympian quotes Rep Pennington as saying "People come out of the woodwork on this one".

If I may be so bold as to correct that statement - We do NOT come out of the woodwork. The exotic owners in Washington are in plain sight and usually well known. It may well appear that we come out of the woodwork at times like these when legislation is introduced that directly effects us, yet no attempt has been made to allow our input. We simply show up on our legislator's doorsteps and ask to be heard.

Who owns exotics? A policeman, a professor, a fireman and an Indian. A truck driver, a doctor, a hunter, a man and a woman. We are young and old, rich and not so rich. Very religious and not at all so. Vegetarians, Republicans, Democrats, white, yellow, black and sometimes black and blue.
We are your neighbors, friends and relatives. We are often reclusive and quiet to protect the privacy of our animals. We have groups and clubs we belong to in an effort to share information and educate all owners. We very often know the local wildlife agents and usually know the laws governing
exotic ownership in our area. The majority of exotic owners try very hard to remain within the law.

We, the legal, responsible private owners are not backing this bill. In fact, we have not actually been consulted or had any input in it, nor has there been any investigation of our animals or us. Since we are the ones who will be affected, it only makes sense that someone should investigate the subjects of the bill (us) and at least get a good idea of what the existing situation is.

This bill appears to be based on the bad experience of one owner who attempted the very risking action of putting together a wild animal and a child, which every exotic owner I know advises against, and backed by a group that does not represent exotics ownership in any way - which in fact would like to ban animal ownership.

PAWS is backing this bill.

PAWS is not an organization representing responsible, legal private ownership of exotics.

PAWS is, by its own admission, attempting to ban various animals. A search of the internet or the library under the subject of PAWS or animal rights organizations should make the intentions of this ban crystal clear to even a casual observer.

The groups supporting bans on private ownership are usually the same groups supporting breed specific bans. The more extreme factions have been known to release mink and cattle, open the doors on zoo and circus tigers, lethally poison privately held cats and other exotics, steal privately held animals and terrorize private owners.

One of the goals is to terminate the practice of having companion animals. That's right. Your little dog and cat. The general populace is not currently under attack. There are too many dog and cat owners. So, exotic owners look like an easy target. This current bill could be introduced and get thru a first hearing before any exotic owner discovered it was in the works. Not so for a ban on domestic dogs and cats. While there may not be a legislator that owns a cougar right now, there are certainly many who own domestic dogs and cats.

There are not a large number of us who chose to own exotics, but we take that ownership as seriously as do the owners of domestic animals. We care for our charges as much as any dog or cat owner loves their companion animal.

Per the Olympian, the animals selected for the ban were chosen on the basis of their size and lethal power.

As any horse owner will tell you, these large animals are very dangerous.. They are larger than lions, more apt to be accessible to untrained handlers and have killed and maimed more humans than any lion or other exotic cat held in private hands.

Those exotic owners who own and care for a variety of animals, which include exotic cats, horses and domestic cats and dogs have frequently stated the horse has caused the most human harm.

The Olympian sites an owner whose young child was attacked by their serval cat (Small African wildcat). With a weight of 40 pounds, this cat was well over one year old. Therefore, the family seems to have acquired this cat while the child was 3 years old or less.

This mixing of a piece of the wild with a child is highly irresponsible. Placing a 4 year old with a highly-strung domestic cat or dog is a known recipe for harm to the child.

I do not intend to lessen the pain and suffering this family experienced by the accident. However banning ownership of exotic cats in the hands of responsible owners is not a corrective action appropriate to this situation. Child endangerment laws are already on the books.

One of the most important points of this sort of ban is the list of those who would be exempt. The majority of the accidents that do occur can be proven to take place in these very places.

On my way into town today I passed within a few miles of numerous exotic animals which all appear happy and are currently owned by private parties - a camel, bison, cougars, bobcats, wolves, wolf dogs, snakes, monkeys, numerous birds, bears, elk, ostrich, emu, iguana - and those are only the ones that I personally know of.

We are a nation of diverse personalities with diverse interests. Private ownership of exotics is legal in Washington. Let's keep it that way.

Thank you,

Jeanne Hall
900 NW State Avenue
Chehalis, WA 98532
360-767-0746