Dear Supreme Court of the United States of America,
I am writing this to change the law behind owning wild animals. Although we have laws set in most states behind owning wild animals, the law given is vague, and people have found loopholes through it. We must revise this law so that nobody has the opportunity to own such animals without a license or proper care. I am writing this because I feel like we, as the people of the United States, do not give enough attention to elephant in the room, literally.
I take this issue personally. As an individual who owns exotic pets, both tame and domestic, I get backlash for having them. Animals that associate mankind as companions and caretakers are labeled as killers or creatures incapable of caring. There is a hidden hysteria to this behavior. People fear for their pets and children, and they put that on animals they don’t really understand, yet, they do not believe that somebody could own an incredibly dangerous animal right next door. Neither did I until I really looked into it.
In Martin County, east of the city of Okeechobee Florida, a man that had owned a Macaque monkey for nine years suffered a painful injury from the same animal. “We’re just upset. He’s a pet … he was more than a pet really, he was awesome.” (Seltzer pg.1) To get away from the monkey’s attack, he ordered his friend to shoot it, thus killing the animal. If he really cared about his beloved “pet”, he would have given him to a sanctuary, somewhere where the monkey could have lived his life similarly to how it would have been in the wild. If he would have done that, the life of the animal wouldn’t be lost.
In Duxbury, Minnesota, a 52-year-old woman that kept many tigers was mauled by one while she was cleaning its cage. When officials arrived, they euthanized the tiger to get to the woman’s body. We also have an incident that occurred in Seneca, Missouri, where a tiger died due to the neglect its “owner” gave to it. Countless deaths on both sides of the spectrum. There is no doubt that this issue is cause for concern all over the United States.
This information is not even common knowledge, when it should be. We, the people, can easily stop these events from happening. We can simply stop this issue by strengthening the law on owning wild animals. Some states have already decided that any wild animal kept as a pet is illegal, not including exotic pets. We must spread this law throughout the entire country.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen
