California Exotic Animal Laws Criticized by Some

Here's an interesting article. Ohio's governor just signed an executive order modeled on California's exotic animal laws, actually spurring criticism of the effectiveness of those laws.

Sad Story about Exotic Animals in Ohio

The owner released them and killed himself. Now, 48 of the 56 animals have been put down. Tragic. These animals include endangered species.

What was he thinking?

Henry Rollins to Host Weird New Show on National Geographic

This sounds to me like it's glorifying the use and misuse of exotic animals. I'm not particularly thrilled about it, even though they are claiming that they are not into encouraging the activities.

Anything for ratings I guess...

Excerpted from Reuters...

Rollins will host "Animal Underworld," which features people who own exotic animals as well as those who eat them. He visits Arizona's Road Kill Cafe, where the menu features not-so-exotic fare. And he meets people who consume things you would not find on the menu even at the Road Kill, like frog smoothies and tarantulas -- the former because it supposedly increases virility and the latter for medicinal purposes.

If "Animal Underworld" sounds a little edgy for the august National Geographic brand -- which has a standards and practices department that vets everything for accuracy -- senior vp Geoff Daniels assures it is in keeping with Nat Geo's mission of exploration and investigation.

"It's really an investigation into our relationship with animals," he says. "It's covering the full range from the off-beat and quirky to the potentially illicit. And our approach to (the latter) is to make sure that we're obviously not encouraging that behavior."

The Unregulated Wildlife Trade in Baghdad

Here's an article in the Times Union about the wildlife trade in Baghdad. It's unregulated and there are many exotic pets being sold, like primates and lions.

Awful.

27,000 Animals Rescued in Texas

Holy cow! That's HUGE. It was an exotic animal importing firm (why the eff do those even exist?) that was allegedly mistreating its animals.

A lot of these animals are reptiles, spiders and amphibians, which explains the large number. This rescue is the result of a PETA undercover investigation. (See, husband, this is why I like PETA!)

From the Detroit Free Press.....

The raid followed an undercover investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. An Arlington, Texas, municipal judge ruled that the animals suffered from neglect and cruel conditions, and an appeal by the company's owners to a higher court was denied last weekend.