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Harrison is Ohio’s Carol Baskin http://www.rexano.org/ARFalseDataFrame.htm
Zuzana Kukol
www.rexano.org
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http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=09c295a5-7993-411b-8b0f-d26bab793e4d

Jul 24, 2007 12:57 AM
9News Special Report: Snake In A Box
Posted By: Neil Relyea
Channel 9 owns an Egyptian Cobra. You heard right: Cobra; one of the deadliest snakes in the world.
We did what more and more people, perhaps your neighbors, are doing.
We found a snake, bought it and had it shipped right to us a day later.
Our goal: to show you just how dangerous these animals are. One of the many lessons we learned from our snake in the box.
Tim Harrison, Outreach for Animals:
"Actually this is not a bad job of packaging a snake."
Right off the bat, we got a lesson in venomous snakes from Tim Harrison, whose animal rescue includes some of the world's deadliest snakes.
He had epinephrine sticks, in case someone got bit.
And he made it clear the snake we bought was nothing to play with.
Tim Harrison, Outreach for Animals:
"The Egyptian Cobra can be a very aggressive snake."
Minutes later, our Egyptian Cobra proved Harrison right.
Tim Harrison, Outreach for Animals:
"Stay down! Stay down! Okay, stay back, guys! Stay back!"
Harrison got the snake under control. But then, he's done this before.
Tim Harrison, Outreach for Animals:
"Anybody who would've gotten this snake and didn't have any experience will probably be going to the emergency room right now."
You'll be amazingly, incredibly and disturbingly surprised to know just how easy it was for us to get our Egyptian Cobra. All we had to do was go online.
We found a website with a dizzying catalog of venomous snakes for sale – from nearly every corner of the globe.
We chose our snake, gave our credit card number, and the cobra came $150 and 24-hours later, no questions asked.
It came by plane.
Snake sellers often ship them on cargo jets.
Ours came on a Delta passenger jet, bringing to mind a certain popular movie.
Damien Oxier, Arrowhead Reptile Rescue:
"Snakes on a plane. Could happen."
Damien Oxier runs a reptile rescue organization.
While our cobra came in a crate that met airline security standards, there were signs he tried to get out – bloodying himself in the process.
Oxier says not every shipper is as scrupulous as ours.
Damien Oxier, Arrowhead Reptile Rescue:
"The real issue is the guy who is sending it in a plain cardboard box, it's not packaged properly. It's in a small bag with a hole in the corner, it's liable to get out and nobody's the wiser it's in there."
But who would order these animals in the first place?
Tim Harrison says they're people who watch too much, "Crocodile Hunter".
Oxier says they're people like Alexandria Hall in North College Hill, killed three years ago when her viper bit her.
Damien Oxier, Arrowhead Reptile Rescue:
"They get them because they think it's cool. There's an adrenaline junkie aspect to it, like jumping out of an airplane, or climbing a rock wall.
"Unfortunately, it takes one slip and one mistake and that's all you need. You're in trouble."
Big trouble, says, Dr. Edward Otten, head of the toxicology department at University Hospital, especially with bites from the exotic snakes we found on online.
Dr. Edward Otten, University Hospital:
"They may have some pain associated with it. You don't have the swelling and redness and things that you see with the other types of snakes, all of a sudden, you stop breathing."
A University of Florida study finds more than 7,000 venomous snake bites each year in the United States, 15 of them fatal.
That's why the American Veterinary Medical Association and other groups oppose the ownership of venomous snakes.
The federal government has left it up to individual states and cities to decide.
Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dayton ban the snakes. The State of Ohio doesn't.
A proposed house bill would require permits and annual inspections for owners.
But Oxier says most won't submit to that process.
Damien Oxier, Arrowhead Reptile Rescue:
"They don't want anyone to know they're there. They're afraid they'll be taken. They're afraid they're gonna be legally held accountable and be charged."
If Oxier's right, snakes will remain a deadly secret in your neighbor's home.
And the experts will keep trying to get the word out.
Tim Harrison, Outreach for Animals:
"And that's why I write books, that's why I do interviews. That's why I'm doing this with Channel 9, is to keep people from having these in their homes."
And what about our snake?
It's living at a snake sanctuary.
There they extract venom from snakes daily to make anti-venom and for pharmaceutical research.
It turns out venom from various snakes may benefit future Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lupus patients, to name a few.
Link

first of all, they didn't distinguish wild venomous snake bites from captive venomous snake bites for the data, but by the same logic:

Over 15 firearm related Hunting fatalities per year so that should be against the law too.

Over 42,000 annual car crash fatalities - we should outlaw driving

120 annual deaths in airline crashes - we should outlaw that

18 annual fatalities from Dog attacks - outlaw Dogs too

Collisions between cars and deer claim 130 lives annually - we should outlaw Deer.

Mosquito's are the top killer, claiming thousands of lives every year through malaria - you guessed it, we should outlaw them.

Yes, they do that to big cat owners too, few montsh ago, Ron Tilson , tiger conservation "expert' form very PUBLICLY tax funded MN AZA zoo was interviewed on some TV night program in anti private exotic cat ownership program said 60 people died of tiger atatcks per year.Well, conveniently, he 'forgot' to ad that this is moslty wild tigers in India, in USA only one person dies as a result of big cat attack per year, and this includes all species, not just tigers, and all captive cats, including AZA zoos.
These half truths are often worse then lies, especially when coming from somebody who is supposed to be a credible 'expert.
Anyway, to see the breakdown of captive retpile fatalities in USA, read this:
http://www.rexano.org//SafetyFrame.htm

Wild venomous snakes in the USA kill 12 or less people each year. Wild alligators kill 2-3 people per year and injure many more.

No fatalities were attributed to captive turtles or tortoises; two were supposedly caused by lizards. One fatality was blamed on salmonella infection supposedly contracted from a pet Iguana, second death was blamed on monitor lizards that were found in the house with their deceased owner. Out of the remaining 15 fatalities, 8 were caused by venomous snake bite and 7 by large constrictors.

None of these deaths were caused by reptiles at large. Instead, all victims were either individuals voluntarily on the property where the animals were kept, or were the owners themselves at their own homes. No members of the public have been killed by captive reptiles in USA since 1995.

Two deaths resulting from the venomous snake bites occurred during voluntary serpent handling religious services in the church, while the remaining 6 involved the owners at their own home at their own risk and discretion.

Two of the deaths caused by large constrictors occurred to the children of the snake owners, at their own home, resulting in the parents being rightfully charged with child endangerment, some also with reckless endangerment and involuntary manslaughter. The remaining five fatalities were owners themselves, whom have accepted and know extremely well the potential risk of their hobby (occupational hazard?).

It doesn’t matter if the child died as a result of an animal attack or by other everyday activity, like drowning in the pool. The parents are responsible for their children and other responsible owners of exotics should not be punished with unfair bans because of parental mistakes of others who just happened to be fellow exotic animal owners.

,snip>
Link

I bet that the family swimming pool kills more kids than all the exotic pets combined in the US hands down. You also have to remember the deaths from domestic pets and livestock each year. And just how dangerous is a flight of stairs or a window on an upper floor?

Some politicians will twist words and data to paint a picture where they are a savior of the general public. When in truth they are just catching red herrings and calling it important while not addressing things that are a real threat, but more acceptable to the general public.

Lance

And don't forget how many people have gotten sick from grannies chicken salad or uncle Bob's rare hamburgers. Maybe people should need a permit to have a family BBQ.

to outlaw skeeters.......but then, only outlaws would have them I guess.........