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Feb. 23, 2002 Exotic animals roam too free, some suggest A bill proposes to impose deadline for registration. By Angela Wilson News-Leader Eight-year-old Jo Jo sits in the work truck, sipping iced tea from a fast-food cup. Crumbs from his recent meal are scattered on his T-shirt, shorts and the floor. He sighs, content to watch the world outside the windows, waving to people who wave at him. He also enjoys watching television and snuggling deep in his cozy bed. “He’s my buddy,” said Jo Jo’s keeper, Rick Gilmore, who owns After Hours Plumbing in Springfield. “He would rather ride than sit at home. He loves to ride and see people and stuff.” Gilmore knows how to take care of Jo Jo — a fluffy, dark-haired ape from the Solomon Islands — and other exotic animals. Several years ago, he owned a bed and breakfast where people could view giraffes, kangaroos, leopards and tortoises. He also knows how to train falcons. Could a novice care for a pet like Jo Jo? “Forget it,” he said. “They require a lot of time, and they can be very mean and very aggressive.” But too often, novices — and sometimes the unscrupulous — are taking care of exotic animals, which can then wind up abused, neglected or abandoned. That leaves some people calling for new laws — currently no federal laws regulate private ownership of exotics, although ownership of endangered species is banned. “I would hate to say let’s make some more laws so nobody can own anything,” said Charlie Strothkamp, a retired Springfield police officer who cares for abandoned or seized exotic animals, “but they are going to have to make some restrictions.” A bill by Rep. Meg Harding, D-Kansas City, would require registration in Missouri within two weeks of purchase of an exotic animal. She proposed it after a child was bitten by a monkey in Platte County last year. There was no mechanism in place to easily find the owner. Current law requires Missourians to register their pets with local law enforcement, but no time frame is specified. “We’re not going to go snoop around, but if something happens — a wild animal gets loose — we can track it back to the person who owns it,” Harding said. Easy to purchase Missourians can purchase exotic animals from a variety of sources, including stores, the Internet, auctions, breeders and dealers registered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Authorities say Missouri is home to the largest exotic animal auction houses in the nation. Neglect and abuse cases have surfaced in southwest Missouri. Two years ago, two neglected tigers and an abused African lion were taken from a McDonald County home. The Pineville owners called the G.W. Exotic Animal Foundation in Oklahoma to take away the animals, which were living in tiny cages. An African lion found on the premises had been shot with a BB gun to move him from one cage to another, said Joe Schreibvogel, park director. More than 170 BBs were removed from the animal after it was rescued. Since it opened two years ago, the park has received 89 large cats and 1,100 other exotics. Twenty-three tigers are on a waiting list. Schreibvogel blames lack of legislation on stores and auctions for the homeless pets. “Any Tom, Dick and Harry can walk in there and buy them with no requirements,” he said. Strothkamp has seen some of the abuse. She spends thousands of dollars each year on maintaining strong cages, licenses and supplies to care for the creatures that arrived on her doorstep after being abused or confiscated by federal authorities. She chases down dumped emus in southwest Missouri counties and aids authorities at the scene of a seizure when necessary. “I’m either rehabbing them for somebody or they are seized animals with no home,” she said. Owners split over laws Exotic pet owners are split on the issue of more laws. Strothkamp is for them. Jean Hall, president of the Alliance for the Conservation of Exotic Felines in Washington, isn’t. Hall said she would support such legislation only “if they will do the same things for dogs and cats and chickens and horses and cows.” Hall suggested laws should be drafted by local governments, which have a better handle on animal issues than larger governing bodies. “Local folks can decide, ‘Do we need this or do we not?’” she said. “New York City is a lot different from the Ozarks.” John Potash with the Wildlife Rescue Foundation in Reno, Nev., doesn’t want more laws on pet ownership, but he said it may be the only way to educate the public about exotic animal care before people buy. He suggested background checks, handing out pamphlets or offering classes on care should be required of dealers. “I would like to see more individual responsibility,” Potash said. “People who want to get an exotic pet of whatever kind — I want it to be their responsibility to learn about it and know what to expect. “Instead, people are just buying them and not learning about them beforehand,” he said. |
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U.S. Department of Agriculture (for annual animal-welfare reports) Missouri Department of Conservation Humane Society of the United States Animal Rights Resource Site |
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