Victims’ families testify on exotic pets

Victims' families testify on exotic pets

BY BRENT D. WISTROM

Eagle Topeka bureau

TOPEKA - Ronda Good stood teary-eyed in front of a group of lawmakers Monday

and told them her daughter would be filling out college applications and

shopping for a prom dress if Kansas had stricter regulations on dangerous

animals.

But Haley Hilderbrand was killed last year while posing for her senior

pictures with a Siberian tiger.

The 7-year-old cat was supposed to be safe, Good said; it had been around

people all its life.

"But the fact is, it was still a tiger, and it did what tigers do," she

said, crying. "He attacked Haley exactly like a tiger attacks its prey,

killing her instantly."

The state needs a law to prevent that from happening to someone else, she

said.

She urged the House Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Committee to pass Bill 578

to bar most human contact with lions, tigers, mountain lions, leopards,

jaguars, cheetahs, bears and non-native venomous snakes.

The proposal, already approved unanimously by the Senate, would also require

$250,000 in insurance and strict licensing for owners of exotic animals.

J. Clay Thomas of Sterling also pleaded for stronger laws.

He said a tiger attacked his wife's arm through a fence while she posed for

a photo with Boy Scouts.

The tiger grabbed her hand and pulled her arm through the cage, he said.

"It chewed and crushed her hand," he said as photos before and after the

incident circulated the room.

He said his wife survived the attack but needed 13 surgeries to regain half

the use of her arm.

"Had (Bill 578) existed that year, then maybe I wouldn't have to be standing

here today," he said.

Some zoo owners urged lawmakers to make sure facilities regulated by the

Zoological Association of America and the newer American Zoological

Association are exempt from paying registration fees with municipal animal

control departments. They also want zoos registered with those associations

to be able to buy, sell and trade animals.

The bill was moved to a subcommittee for more discussion. Committee Chairman

Don Myers, R-Derby, said he's not sure when the committee will vote on the

bill, but he said it is important and will be acted on in coming weeks.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/14148353.htm

Posted on Tue, Mar. 21, 2006

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Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

Sign our petition here:

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