The zoos hidden sins, all for the glamor

The only people that should be allowed to have these animals are those that have the money to feed and care for them everyday and have the experience to handle them.
Fact 1: A tiger wild or otherwise, can fit your head in its mouth and crush your skull instantly.
Fact 2: Any exotic animal along the lines of lion and tiger and bears oh my plays rough and rough play can turn into destroy you.
Fact 3: Some zoos are prisons that need to be destroyed Kashi was proof of that.
Fact 4: You cannot domesticate a tiger, nor can you train it not act like a tiger. Until humans realize this, unfortunately, the headlines will continue to read Owner Killed by Pet Tigers.

Now let me say that their are other sins that zoos such as that one have committed...here is that story..

TWS rescued three tigers and two lions from an exhibitor in Iowa.Four cats had passed away from starvation before TWS received the call. When they arrived, they were informed that a full-grown lion had died four days prior and was still in the enclosure being consumed by his mate.(lions are not cannibalistic they will not eat other cats no matter how bad the cituation is their conditions were terrible to have in sighted this behviour as lions will kill other cats but NEVER eat them and for one to eat its own mate....)

This was the worst case of animal abuse TWS has ever seen. The five surviving animals were emaciated and at 50 percent of their ideal weight. They had no shelter, no food or water, and had open lesions covering their bodies.The cats were transported to a sanctuary that could care for them.

The following excerpt appeared in US News.

Cruel and usual: How some of America's best zoos get rid of their old, infirm, and unwanted animals

By Michael Satchell

Besides the AZA rules, a 1966 law passed by Congress specifies care, feeding, and other requirements for the treatment of exotic animals and mandates that the Department of Agriculture enforce the statute. But a reporter and photographer who visited more than two dozen small zoos around the nation found a pattern of callous treatment and government neglect. Some examples: Four big cats died after the USDA recommended their owner place his two cougars, four tigers, two adult lions, and a young lion in Don and Dee's Exotic Zoo, a roadside facility in Manson, Iowa. The cougars died, apparently from malnutrition, and Steven Bellin, a USDA veterinarian, then inspected the zoo in November 2000. U.S. News obtained copies of Bellin's inspection reports and correspondence. "All but the young lion are on concrete flooring without bedding materials of any sort," Bellin wrote. "Ambient temperature was approximately 35 degrees. . . . There was no food on the premises for the large cats. . . . [Water bowls] were filled with either frozen or brackish water, carcass materials, and/or debris. Housing arrangements, lighting, and sanitation fail to meet the minimal federal standards. All seven of the large cats . . . appear thin/gaunt and somewhat emaciated. The female African lion recently failed to eat for three days.This animal might die if not treated." Bellin gave the zoo owners six weeks to improve conditions. He apparently did not seek emergency removal of the animals or try to have the zoo closed down. A few days after his inspection, the female lion killed and ate the male. A male Bengal tiger also died after splintered turkey bones punctured its intestinal tract because it had no drinking water to flush them through its system. Before it expired, the tiger chewed its metal water bowl to pieces. "I believe [the bowl] that was torn apart . . . was a response by the animal to the deep, agonal pain [caused] by the tissue-penetrating bones," Bellin wrote. "I believe that the tiger was starving . . . and died in severe pain in the cold without a shelter or bedding." The USDA fined Don and Dee's $500 and revoked its license. The local county attorney, Ann Beneke, sought to prosecute the owners on cruelty charges but was forced to drop the case when the USDA refused to allow Bellin to testify. He failed to respond to a U.S. News interview request.

http://www.wildcatsanctuary.org


People buy these animals because they want to be able to say they have one not because they care did you know that

There are only 1200-2000 tigers left in the wild due primarily to habitat loss and hunting. And the tiger population has declined by as much as 95% in the past hundred years.

And even though Florida has an outright ban on possessing tigers as personal pets, the state now has 1,455 tigers , a 50 percent increase in 15 months and second only to Texas in the nation. Florida also has 262 USDA exhibitors for big cats, more than any other state. There are more tiger breeders in Florida than anywhere else but there is no plan for reintroducing tigers back to the wild. Is their only hope to live in a cage for the rest of their lives?

A single big cat shelter can have an emergency call a week and in a year they will have this:

	Taken in	Found	Homes
			For These
1999	55	13	0
2000	56	11	0
2001	78	10	6
2002	74	4	0
2003	312	8	4
2004	110	6	3
2005	94	9	2
2006	81	0	3
2007	72	14	1
	932	75	19