Should they put a stop to this?

Question

I was watching tv and I saw a documentary about big cats. It was it's legal to own a lion or a tiger in some parts of the USA. Now tigers happen to be my favourite animal, but owning one? That's over the top. These animals need plenty of space to roam, in the wild where they should be. Do you think they should put a stop to this?

Answer 1

We should never seek to domesticate or own wild animals, not just big cats. They should be free to roam, and hunt and act naturally - not be cuddled, coddled and fed dead meat.

Answer 2

The problem isn't whether or not people can own dangerous animals, there are already laws against it in populated areas, Last year near the Ronald Regan Presidential Library in California, A beautiful big Lion was running Loose and the Dept of fish and game put it down, because it got to close to a elementary school. when they went to check with locals in the area that had permits for these big cats, Mostly for movie work, one came up missing, the owner was out of town, somehow the gate was opened, and a recipe for disaster was born. Who can decide How much is enough property to keep these big cats on, how far away from populated areas do they need to be, In Asia and Africa where these Cats live in the wild, Human Contact usually proves deadly, either for the cat or the human. no new applications to keep Big Cats are being accepted as far as I know.

Answer 3

Yes. The people who own these animals are doing it for status and seldom have a good understanding of the animal's needs. There are few vets who can treat them properly. And then there's always the chance that the animal will wake up one day to the fact that it's a wild animal and wreak havoc.
A man in my village had a "tame" lion; one day he came home and found his wife and kids locked in the garage because his "pet" of many years had destroyed the lounge.
Owning any exotic animal as a "pet" is just wrong. How many reptiles etc. have died because the owner didn't know what to feed it, or "set them free" when they became a bother.

Answer 4

Yes, definately, even the best zoos struggle with providing adequate care and stimulation, how is a private owner going to cope?
Do you know what's really scary though? More tigers are owned privately in the US than are left in the wild...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/features/332feature1.shtml
i do believe a good captive breeding and release program could possibly be of benefit for the wild populations but that is obviously not happening with these privately owned animals.

Answer 5

Here is a dilemma,well today it is! I read that there are more tigers in America than in their native countries.Given the Endangered gene pool i was told that for tigers it is all over!What and why fors and how ludicrous it is to own a big cat is for you to decide(for me now it is academic)To save many Animals all over the world it is down to environment,prey species and breeding programmes.Without the gene pool for many the time is running out.MY POINT,if there are more tigers in USA then the gene pool should be checked,some sort of amnesty should be decreed to save the species.(That's not to say decriminalise,or,that i support capturing wild animals for private individuals or even zoo's)I really want all the animals in their natural habitats and if at all possible clear of human profiteering and even free from expansion of human habitations,farms,city's,airports,industry,deforestation etc etc.Do you allow third world countries to have expanding populations and dwindling fauna or do you encourage pockets of habitat for a few chosen species.Look back in time in England,it had Bears,Wolves and abundant prey species.Now we want rid of foxes,badgers etc.

Answer 6

People have been owning big cats as pets in the U.S. all along. As a nurse going into people's homes everyday, I was stunned at how many people keep large animals like tigers as pets. You should try to listen to heart sounds with a stethoscope and an Ostrich (an OSTRICH, of all things) kept as an indoor/outdoor pet curls its neck around from behind you and puts his face right in yours and seems to ask, "Whatcha dooooiin'?" When I lived in Texas (the laws may have changed down there, but I doubt it, considering who is President right now), many ranches kept big cats for men to have for "cat hunts", Texas safaris and "kill-me-a-cat" type weekend Bubba "fun". Sick.

Answer 7

Te big cats are wild animals and there is a big BIG difference between a wild and a domestic animal. One thing is that it is very dangerous to keep these animals in residential areas also the second thing is that it is very cruel to domesticate wild animals as they need their space to live in ,to roam , to be close to nature. to domesticate these is to harrass their right of being close to nature.

Answer 8

yeah i reckon they should, mainly cuz tigers live in the wild and are wild animals, so for peoples own safety and the happiness of the tigers, they shouldnt be allowed to be kept as pets

Answer 9

I think it would be awesome to own a baby tiger. But even if you raised the most gentle nicest baby tiger in the world, once it gets its first taste of human blood they turn vicious...

If they were going to keep this law then i think they should at least have the peoople have a permit. They need lots of space so and you would have to have all of the proper equipment but i think this is something that we should just leave in the wild or to the zoos! Do they allow tigers in neighborhoods?

Answer 10

Local ordinance in my city allows for keeping exotic animals (such as lions and tigers), but it stipulates just the very things you point out; that enough space be given, and that the owners must know every detail about the proper care and feeding of such animals, and that they do take care of them properly (there are other restrictions that apply, as well).

Personally, I would love to own a cougar (aka a puma or mountain lion), but I lack the space in my city lot, so I would not attempt to own one until such time as I did have the space and resources to do so.

I used to live in Las Vegas, NV. and we lived within 2 miles of Sigfried and Roy's compound (it was a very large estate within the city limits). They kept several tigers, but they had the resources to properly care for them.

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