Wild Animals Do Not Make Good Pets

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2011/10/19/zanesville-exotic-animals-escape-preserve.html

Above is a link to the Columbus news station covering the story of a Zanesville exotic animal escape. The short version of the story is that the owner of this so called "preserve" released all 48 exotic animals he was housing and then shot himself. This man has just recently been released from prison for weapons charges and had been in trouble before for animal abuse. Please explain to me why someone like that is allowed to have animals such as lions, tigers, bears, cougars, wolves, etc? This animals belong in the wild. Ohio used to have a law stating that people could not own these types of animals unless they were licensed by the state. Our current governor in all his wisdom allowed that law to expire. What is sad is that 31 of these animals had to be killed last night for the safety of the people in the area around this "preserve" and those that are remaining are being looked for as we speak.

I guess what bothers me the most is that people don't seem to remember that these animals are dangerous. Yes, they are cute and cuddly when they are babies but those babies grow up. Its like the woman a couple years ago who owned the chimpanzee who attacked her friend and literally ripped her face off. This woman went on and on about how she couldn't believe he would do something like that. HELLO! He's a wild animal. I don't care how human like he may act or how trained you think he is he is still wild. I am of the firm belief that these animals should be left in the wild and if that is not possible they should be taken to some place that has the correct facilities to house them and raise them. Jack Hanna said it best when he said that a law is only as good as the reinforcement behind it. When is Ohio going to start cracking down on people like this Mr. Thompson who had no business owning these animals in the first place. If he was truly wanting to help these animals he would not have released them before killing himself. Wild animals do not make good pets. They are wild for a reason. Lets leave them that way.