SOUTHERN ILLINOISAN (Illinois) 13 July 03 Exotic Pets Can Be Exciting, But Also Dangerous (Mark Lambird)
Southern Illinois: In the last month names like Shawnee and Joanna have been in the headlines more than once. One was a 7-foot grizzly bear and the other a 6-foot water lizard from Asia.
They were pets who ran way from home. The bear returned, but Joanna is still sunning along the banks of Lake Moses near Benton.
In recent years, exotic pets have enjoyed a surge in popularity. They come in the form of snakes, lizards, bears and any number of other animals. Sometimes, though, unconventional pets cause trouble.
A tragic example came in August of 1999 when a 3-year-old boy was killed by a 7-foot-6-inch pet python. Jesse Lee Altom of Centralia was killed by his parents' snake when it wrapped itself around the boy's body and suffocated him.
Earlier this year, Shawnee the bear made news when he decided to take a longer walk than his owner intended. The 7-foot, 500-pound bear is owned by Jerry Mullenix of rural Pope County, who had the proper permit to own Shawnee. After a sabbatical that lasted more than week, the bear finally returned home after causing a media frenzy that included coverage by CNN.
Shawnee made some folks uneasy, but a much smaller critter that spreads a tropical disease struck medical fear in the hearts of many this year. In May and early June, prairie dogs were discovered to be spreading monkeypox across several Midwestern states.
The small rodents were linked to the smallpox-related illness after people in Milwaukee began appearing in emergency rooms with rashes that resembled smallpox.
The disease would eventually spread across the Midwest infecting people locally in Clay County and Jefferson County. Because of the outbreak, the sales and transfer of prairie dogs were stopped across the state.
The latest local pet caper began on June 18 when Joanna, a 6-foot Asian water monitor, escaped from her cage and took to the lakes and ponds around Benton. There have been sightings in Lake Moses and in the pond of Dave Cooper.
Cooper said since the escape of the reptile he is afraid to let his 3-year-old grandchild play outside without supervision.
There are state and federal laws that regulate "dangerous" animals such as lions, tigers, bears and other large mammals. In Illinois, one cannot own poisonous or "dangerous" reptiles either. The question, though, is what is a dangerous reptile?
Carroll Imig, chief of the bureau of animal welfare for the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said the exotic pet industry has exploded in the past few years. It includes pets such as scorpions, centipedes, lizards and mammals, many of which are native to other parts of the world.
While the law names the "dangerous" mammals, the reptiles are not listed. Imig said that is the part of the law that causes problems.
"There have been court cases that have found members of the crocodilian family to be dangerous animals," Imig said. "But with constricting snakes, different courts have different ideas of what is dangerous."
He cited a recent case where the court ruled that a 15-foot snake was dangerous. He said to his knowledge, there are no court cases about what constitutes a dangerous lizard.
To keep a bear or other large mammals, depending upon whether they are endangered on the state or federal level, people must get licenses.
While the state law is fuzzy on the definition of a dangerous reptile, some municipalities have brought the term into focus. Carbondale is one of those who regulates the size of snakes and lizards that may be kept inside the city limits.
Carbondale City Clerk Janet Vaught said no poisonous snakes or lizards are allowed in the city. But, unlike the state law, reptiles are considered to be dangerous if they are more than 5 feet long.
Cindy Nelson, Carbondale animal control officer, said people who are found to be in violation of the ordinance are given 30 days to remove the pet from city limits.
"We don't have very many cases where we have to worry about it," Nelson said. "We have only had a couple in the last few years."
Cindy Gimse, a Carbondale resident, is well aware of the restriction the city puts on reptiles and all of her lizards fall within the bounds.
Her largest lizard is a 41/2-foot-long iguana, 6 inches shy of the city's limit.
"The number one reason I don't have any larger lizards is the city ordinance," Gimse said.
She said the lizards are not for everyone and take more equipment than most pets.
"Anyone that is going to purchase a lizard has to do some research on what they want and what they will need," Gimse said. "There is a lot that goes into raising them."
She said she spends a lot of time cleaning the tanks and making sure the conditions inside the tanks are right for each individual lizard.
"You have to have special lighting for the lizards that provide the same rays as real sunlight," Gimse said. "You also have to feed them special diets and then put supplement on what they eat so they will get enough calcium."
The lizards are not without risk. Gimse has been bitten and swiped by tails on numerous occasions. One she had to go to the hospital because a bite became infected.
"It was my fault -- the lizard felt threatened and I didn't handle the situation correctly," Gimse said. "It got infected so I had to go to the hospital, get a tetanus shot and get on antibiotics."
While Gimse's lizards are not considered dangerous, she takes extra care that they do not escape.
"I could take the iguana out in its cage on the patio and let it be in the natural sunlight," Gimse said. "But then if it escaped I would be liable. They can be temperamental and could hurt someone so I don't take the chance."
Many of these lizards and snakes are becoming more and more common. Most local pet stores carry one or another type of exotic animal.
Linda Hooker, owner of Fish Tales at Illinois Centre Mall in Marion, said she carries a few types of snakes and lizards but not many and those that are carried are the smaller varieties.
"Our main business is dogs," Hooker said. "The type of people that come into malls to shop for pets aren't the type that's looking for reptiles."
She said those who do come in looking for snakes or lizards usually have extensive knowledge of reptiles.
"I have seen amazing little 7- or 8-year-old kids come in and know everything about reptiles," Hooker said. "They really know the science behind the animals."
Hardware and Pets in Murphysboro also limits the size of the reptiles it sells.
"We try not to carry any reptiles that get more than 4 or 5 feet long," Wilma Ewing, owner of Hardware and Pets, said. "After a while people get tired of something that big."
Snakes also get expensive to feed once they become very large.
"When a snake gets to be 20 feet long, you have to start feeding them rabbits and animals larger than rats," Ewing said.
Exotic Pets Can Be Exciting, But Also Dangerous

[ Hide Replies ]

• IL Press: Exotic Pets Can Be Exciting, But Also Dangerous - W von Papineäu, Mon Jul 14 12:42:09 2003