Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Today is a short blogging day as I'm rather busy with other stuff, but I do have to comment on the horrific goings-on in Ohio.  More than fifty exotic animals dead because we don't have federal wildlife laws to protect animals that belong only in the wild or in carefully-designed habitats that emulate the animals' natural environment.   What's particularly sad is that some of the animals were endangered species, among them eighteen rare Bengal tigers.

To quote from an article in AFP:

Conservationists have for years demanded strict wildlife ownership laws in the United States, especially in Alabama, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin, where rules are utterly non-existent.

"All eight states that don't have regulations should immediately have an executive order by the governor banning the keeping or sale of these animals." 

If you have time, please write to or call the governor of Ohio, John Kasich, and ask that he listen to the Humane Society of the United States and the public and immediately enact restrictions on the ownership of exotic animals.

Governor John Kasich 
Riffe Center, 30th Floor 
77 South High Street 
Columbus, Oh 43215-6117
Phone: (614) 466-3555 

And if you still have time, also call or write Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the leading animal rights advocate in the U.S. Congress, to let him know you appreciate his efforts.  We need laws at the federal level to stop the unethical treatment of animals.

2445 Rayburn HOB 
Washington, DC 20515

Phone (202)225-5871 
Fax (202)225-5745

Thanks.

Latest:

Gov. John Kasich of Ohio signed an executive order on Friday that he said might have prevented the man accused of releasing dozens of tigers, lions and other animals from his reserve in Zanesville this week from being allowed to keep the animals because of his history of animal cruelty and neglect.