Lions, Tigers and Bears.

In the last post, I let my emotions get the best of me and took out my anger for people who don't understand. This I know is wrong. 

But the idea of keeping my dog out of apartments and even some cities seems naive to whats really going on behind closed doors. Being an animal freak, I came across this documentary The Elephant in the Living Room. This takes place following people that are keeping wild animals in their homes as pets. In case one, a man is keeping a lion in his backyard since receiving him as a cub. For a few years it's like keeping a large kitten in your home, but once hitting full grown, he's put into a small metal cage just behind the man's home. Shortly after he gets a female lion to join, leaving only the only obvious to come next, she becomes pregnant and forms a pride within this cage. 

At some point they do escape and heading towards the freeway of this small town, scaring locals and only for police to arrive shortly after. Even then, the man refuses to give his 'pets' up. The owner of these lions is disabled mentally after his truck accident years ago, leaving him unemployable and lonely with no close family besides his sister. I can see where some reach is for giving affection and striving for belonging comes into play. Never has a documentary taken me on such a emotional up and down, messing with all sides of feelings a person can have. You want to feel bad for this man, but the director takes you to the other side as well. 

All sorts of exotic are being sold all around the United States and nothing is being done to stop this, mostly because there are not many rules against it. Taking you into exotic and deadly animal expos where people are selling verminous snakes and spiders, not only that but their are children in there carrying around these animals like puppies? How could you do that to your own child. At this point I was angry that this was being allowed to continue to happen. They follow around a trained animal control, specialized in taking house calls to rid of deadly animals (mostly snakes.) These people will have them as pets and usually break loose, I mean how can you keep a hundred pound python controlled? So many cases of them braking out and killing house hold pets and even children.

What mostly happens is when the wild animal becomes too out of control to keep as a 'pet' they are thrown away and more likely just thrown outside. These animals have no idea what they are doing or where they are going because small homes USA aren't where they are from. People in other countries are hiding and fighting off these animals while we bring them into out homes and name them? Is there something about the thrill? Or is it because we shouldn't have them, then we have the desire to do so.      

Thinking about those lions and cubs still gives me the chills. That man is not a horrible person, he is lonely and not in the right mind set. Once his male lion dies in a freak accident, he finally realizes they could be happier in a lion sanctuary. It's not Africa but it's a start. I would like there to be some sort of laws be put into place with the owning of wild animals, until then people are going to be stupid and I hope they will see the wrong in it.