Please read the following and be prepared to fight:



For Immediate Release Contact: Holly Bowman



August 22, 2005 954-727-2733







STATE FORMS CAPTIVE WILDLIFE COMMITTEE



Animals, People Likely Not Safer



( Florida ) - With tragic incidents of human injuries and animal cruelty in the media's recent spotlight, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced plans to review the state of the State's captive wildlife. Last month, the FWCC announced that they had formed a Captive Wildlife Technical Assistance Group to review current captive wildlife regulations and suggest changes that would improve Florida 's rules.



With the escape of Bobo the tiger and other less publicized, but equally troubling episodes still looming over the FWCC, the agency was hard pressed not to review its regulations. But, like the 4 previous committees formed to determine how wildlife should be kept, this one is comprised almost exclusively of "stakeholders" (to use the state's term), which essentially puts the fox in charge of the henhouse. We basically have Steve Sipek (owner of Bobo the two time escapee tiger) calling the shots.



The continuation of the FWCC to stack the committee with members having financial or personal interests in reducing restrictions could be the reason for many of the problems Florida faces today.



In the last three years in Florida , there have been 46 incidents in which dangerous captive exotic animals have escaped from their cages and/or attacked a human being. Nearly half of these incidents resulted in serious human injuries.

Florida is now home to more tiger breeders than anywhere else in the country. There was a reported 50% increase in the number of captive tigers in this state in the last year alone.

Florida 's diverse habitat and subtropical climate has made it the "perfect" dumping ground for exotic pet owners whose animals have become too difficult to manage. As a result, Florida now teems with invasive, non-native species such as African monitor lizards, Burmese pythons, green iguanas and even vervet monkeys, some of which are causing ecological disasters.

Considering that only .0005 of Floridians own exotic animals, it seems inexplicable that all but two of the FWCC's current 11 member Captive Wildlife Technical Assistance Group either own wild animals as pets or make their living from the use of captive wild animals. And as a result, the other grossly misrepresented 99.9995 of Floridians who don't own exotic animals are forced to pay the price of inadequate wildlife laws designed to benefit the owners of exotic animals rather than ensure public health and safety.



"With its members having a vested interest in reducing restrictions on captive wildlife owners, the current committee offers little, if any, hope for improvement," says Holly Bowman, ARFF Captive Exotic Animal Specialist. "Instead, it may even exacerbate Florida 's disastrous state. To truly ensure the community's safety and the animals' welfare, a complete ban on private possession of exotic animals must be adopted."



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The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) is the state's largest animal rights organization. With over 4,000 members state-wide, the goal of ARFF is to end animal cruelty, suffering and exploitation.









Humane USA PAC

P.O. Box 19224

Washington, D.C. 20036

Email: humaneusa@humaneusa.org

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