The recent tragedy in Ohio has renewed the public’s attention on the dangers of private ownership of exotic animals in the United States.
Ownership of wild animals not only raises concerns about potential harm to the animals, but also the danger posed to humans.
State laws related to owning exotic animals vary across the country and the excellent infographic below (by LiveScience.com) provides some fascinating statistics on Exotic Pets in the U.S.
There are certainly some animals that shouldn’t be in private hands but the issue of the tiger above seems to be a one of incident by an irresponsible person. Restrictions should be put in place across the US, perhaps in a similar way to having to gain a licence to carry a firearm, where people can get them but they need to fill out paperwork and have a background check.