Lola ya Bonobo

hi guys,

sorry i haven’t been posting, i’ve been so busy with this grant about our new exciting education projects, which i promise i will update you with soon. first of all thanks to  Lucia C who gave us $30 for baby bottles and toys, Theresa S who gave us $50 for baby bottles and toys , BrigittaS , Sheryl B who continue with their $10 monthly donation, and then Theresa S AGAIN for your $25 monthly donation. you guys are awesome, thanks!

yesterday i went to a public hearing in North Carolina.  There is a new law that bans the private ownership of exotic animals and the senate is trying to push it through in our state. this came because a few years ago, a little boy was killed by someone’s pet tiger.

A lot of you will probably be surprised to know that anyone in north carolina can get on the internet with a credit card and buy a baby tiger.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,453035,00.html
You can also buy chimps, monkeys, crocodiles, and any other kind of exotic animal you want, to keep in your backyard.

For example:

http://exoticpetco.com/index.html 

 http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200508/17/eng20050817_202976.html

Of course they have to be ‘bred in america’ but we heard a woman speak at a hearing yesterday who was a journalist investigating the black market pet trade in america, and she said the ownership of exotic pets is very poorly regulated and easy to forge.

In other words, little Malou, the five year old bonobo who was caught being smuggled in a bag at the Charles de Gaulle airport, was on her way to being someone’s backyard pet.

People opposed to the bill included pork farmers who didn’t want Californians telling him what he could and couldn’t have, which didn’t really make any sense except he thought if they were banning chimps from being pets, whose to say pigs wouldn’t be next. then there were people who owned private zoos and hence bought and sold tigers, lions, chimps etc and claimed the bill was putting them out of business.

It can be hard to define why exactly it is wrong to keep wild animals as pets, as this blogger for the nytimes pointed out

 http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/whats-wrong-with-this-chimp-photo/#more-246

but if you ever need to argue with someone who is about to buy an exotic animal as a pet, or thinks that backyard zoos are ok, here is some info taken from our statement yesterday:

First, it is a fact that domestication is the process of changing an animals DNA so that chemicals in their brains prevent them from being impulsively aggressive towards humans.  All of the animals listed in the bill are wild and cannot be trained or raised to be less aggressive.  There DNA and brains are built for impulsive aggression to survive in the wild not with humans.

Second, it is a fact that because of this aggressive temperament people who sell these animals as pets  must do so when they are adorable and harmless infants.  There customers do not know the level of aggression these animals are capable of or there strength.

Third, it is a fact that even accredited zoos and universities struggle to pay the expenses required to house wild animals humanely and safely.  The vast majority of pet owners do not have the resources to assure the welfare of their wild pet and the safety of their neighbors.

Fourth, It it a fact that ALL primates potentially carry diseases deadly to humans including herpes B, yellow fever, monkeypox, Ebola, Marburg, SIV, and tuberculosis.

Fifth, it is a fact that the pet trade is an international problem that threaten many species with extinction. Conservationists are trying to stop this trade in developing countries where people kill endangered wild animals to sell as pets at home and abroad.  But politicians in these countries point to the lack of laws in the United States and ask why someone in North Carolina can have a pet monkey or tiger but a Congolese or Brazilian cannot.  My hope is that we will set an example for the world for the humane treatment of wild animals – their very survival depends upon it.

 If you want to help, visit this website:

http://www.bornfreeusa.org/exotic_pets.php