Exotic Animals are not pets!

Please Sign this petition, your signature is greatly appreciated!  I will be forwarding the results to the appropritate government officials.

The Texas State Laws States:

A person may not own, harbor, or have custody or control of a dangerous wild animal for any purpose unless the person holds a certificate of registration for that animal issued by an animal registration agency.

(b) A certificate of registration issued under this subchapter is not transferrable and is valid for one year after its date of issuance or renewal unless revoked.

There have been numerous incidents across the country where exotic pets have attacked humans and other animals, and have escaped from their enclosures and freely roamed the community. As a result, children and adults have been mauled by tigers, bitten by monkeys, and asphyxiated by snakes. In March 2000, a 3 year-old boys right arm was severed just above the elbow by his uncles pet tiger. The boy stuck his arm through one of the gaps in the tigers chain-link cage. In October 2001, another 3-year-old died of head injuries when his step-grandfathers pet  tiger seized him from the mans arms and ran off with the boy in his mouth.

In addition, exotic animals pose serious health risks to humans. Many exotic animals are carriers of zoonotic diseases, such as herpes B, monkey pox, and salmonella bacteria, all of which are communicable to humans. For example, 80 to 90% of all macaque monkeys are infected with Herpes B-virus or Simian B, a virus that is harmless to monkeys but fatal to 70% of humans who contract it. A person who is bitten, scratched, sneezed on or spit on while shedding is occurring runs the risk of contracting the disease. Monkeys rarely show any signs or symptoms of shedding, making it nearly impossible to know when one is at risk.

Moreover, salmonella associated with exotic pet reptiles has been described as one of the most important public health diseases affecting more people and animals than any other single disease. The CDC estimates that 93,000 salmonella cases caused by exposure to reptiles are reported each year in the United States. In 1996, a 3-week-old boy was admitted to the emergency room with fever, vomiting, and diarrhea that had persisted for 15 days. The infant was hospitalized for 10 days and treated with intravenous fluids and amoxicillin. The cause of the illness was salmonella poisoning which he contracted from the familys pet iguana.

When in the hands of private individuals, the animals themselves suffer. These animals do not adjust well to a captive environment, for they require special care, housing, diet, and maintenance that the average person cannot provide. As a result, individuals possessing exotic animals often attempt to change the nature of the animal rather than the nature of the care provided. Such tactics often include confinement in small barren enclosures, chaining, beating into submission, or even painful mutilations, such as declawing and tooth removal.

To properly ensure the communitys safety and health and the animals welfare, a complete ban on private possession of exotic animals must be adopted.

I hope you will consider this issue and the signatures on the petition.
I wish to make this law a reality.  This is a important issue for Texas and many other states as well.  The goal here is to BAN private ownership of Exotic Animals in TX.
Thank you for your time