Tiger troubles in Ontario
February 14th marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year, and ushers in the year of the tiger. Coincidentally, there's been some publicity surrounding a tiger in Ontario that has nothing to do with a New Year or good fortune. On January 10, a 300 kilogram Siberian tiger killed its owner, 66-year-old Norman Buwalda, when he went into the tiger's cage to feed it. This tiger was one of many owned by private individuals or as part of dodgy roadside zoos in Ontario and across North America.
It is truly amazing how easy it is for people to obtain potentially lethal exotic animals like tigers, and how many (or most) jurisdictions have no rules against it. Tigers are beautiful and fascinating animals, but they shouldn't be pets. Exotic pets carry many risks, including injuries and infections, not to mention animal welfare issues from poor management and feeding practices. This is far from the first exotic cat to have killed its owner, and unfortunately, it's almost certainly not the last.
The latest concerns about this particular tiger involved its whereabouts. When the OSPCA (Ontario Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) went to the property to investigate a complaint about the well-being of other animals, they discovered that the tiger was gone. The town's major was also unaware of the tiger's location.
Provincial police, at least, knew more, and stated that the tiger and two lions were moved to an "undisclosed location" on January 27th. I think people need to realize this isn't the witness protection program, and there's no justification for being secretive about the location of these animals. The fact that they are gone should be a comfort to neighbours in Southwold, Ontario, but what about the people that may now be living next to it? It's pretty unlikely that these animals have been moved to a proper zoo with adequate housing facilities and handlers experienced with big cats. More likely, they're in the same type of situation as before, just is a different locale.
In Ontario, you can be charged if you have a pit bull or even a dog that resembles a pit bull, but you can have a 300 kg carnivorous feline in your backyard. How does that make sense?
Internet exotic pet dealer horrors
.A public health expert has recommended that an exotic animal dealer's facility be demolished or "completely gutted and sterilized" because it is so contaminated with animal feces and vomit, as well as roach infested and swarming with uncaged animals. No evidence of infection control was present in the facility that "reeked of death and decay on a mammoth and overwhelming scale."
26 000 (yes, twenty-six thousand) reptiles, rodents and mammals were removed from US Global Exotic's Texas facility last week, in a raid prompted by an undercover investigation by PETA. An employee working undercover in the facility for PETA documented various abuses. The company now stands accused by the city of inhumanely housing the animals as well as denying them proper food, water and medical care. Hundreds of dead animals were found, and some animals had started eating one another to survive. An SPCA spokesperson said she stopped counting at 200 dead iguanas.
Buying certain things on the internet is fine. Buying live animals over the internet is something that you shouldn't even consider. This is a multi-million dollar industry that feeds off the naivety of people, the willingness of people to ignore serious welfare issues in their desire to get a unique pet, and the suffering of animals. Exotic pets can be good pets in certain situations, but tremendous numbers of them suffer and die from inadequate care at distributors, pet stores and homes, with many (many) more dying during smuggling.
If you want an exotic pet:
- Read a lot about it first. Make sure you can properly manage the animal and that it's legal in your area.
- Learn about any infectious disease risks and whether it's appropriate for your household. In general, exotic pets should not be present in households with children under five years of age, pregnant women, elderly individuals and people with compromised immune systems.
- Find a small, local breeder. Buy the animal from a place where you can see how they are raised so you can have more confidence they are healthy and have been properly cared for.
- If you want to buy an exotic pet from a pet shop, ask clear questions about the origin of the animal and request supporting documentation. Only buy a pet that was bred locally. US Global Exotics apparently sold most of their animals through pet stores.
Don't support illegal and unethical activities by buying exotic pets - if you really want to have such a pet, remember that it requires a lot of forethought and investigation of the source.
Zebra sidelines football player
No, I'm not talking about a referee, I'm talking about a real zebra. Pittsburgh State football player Joe Windscheffel will miss the entire upcoming season after being attacked by a zebra on a farm in Kansas. In a related story, Kansas State University Professor Gary West remarked about various problems associated with people owning exotic pets. Some are pretty clear, such as the risks posed by 500 lbs tigers or 20 ft pythons (or unruley zebras). Others are more insidious, such as the risks of transmitting various zoonotic diseases.
Exotic pets are an important source of zoonotic diseases. Some of these diseases, like Salmonella, are very common and well-understood. Others come out of nowhere and can cause major problems, such as the monkeypox outbreak in the US a few years ago that was caused by prairie dogs and African rodents. One problem with exotic pets is that we know little about the disease risks associated with them, and therefore we don't know what precautions should be taken or how to test them for the most important pathogens. While exotic pets can be interesting, they certainly pose an increased risk of disease compared to dogs, cats and other domestic animals for which we have a good idea of the risks involved and how to manage them. That's not to say that all exotic pets will cause disease and no dogs will - that's definitely not true. However, people having contact with exotic pets must accept an increased risk of disease exposure.
The CDC recommends that children under five years of age, elderly individuals, people with compromised immune systems and pregnant women not have contact with exotic pets. While these are the high risk groups, infections can occur in anyone. If you really want an exotic pet:
- Stop, think, and read as much as you can before making the decision. Find out about the animal, how to care for it and what risks might be involved.
- Make sure you can provide appropriate care. Many exotic pets die because of poor management because they're owners can't or don't know how to care for them properly.
- Find a captive bred animal, as these animals likely pose less risk of harbouring exotic diseases. It's also a much more humane way to get a pet than to buy a wild caught animal (especially when you consider that many animals die during capture and transit).
- Make sure there are no high-risk people living in or visiting the household. Saying they will be in the house but won't have contact with the pet is not adequate, because infections from indirect contact can occur.
- Remember that if you do things right, your pet should live for a while (e.g. years). If you think you might want to have kids in a couple of years, do you really want to get an exotic pet that will need to be re-homed at that time?
- Make sure your physician knows you have an exotic pet. Various diseases that would not be an issue for the general population might need to be considered if you get sick.
Image source: University of Bergamo
