February 5th, 2010
Jim Shepard’s editorial in today’s Outdoor Wire concerns tomorrow’s Nonnative Pet Amnesty Day at Miami’s MetroZoo:
“Our main purpose is to give pet owners an alternative to releasing nonnative animals into the wild,” says Jenny Tinnell, FWC biologist. “It’s illegal to release a nonnative animal into the wild in Florida, and it could be detrimental for the animal and the environment.”
People can come to the zoo and surrender exotic pets they can no longer care for, free of charge, with no questions asked.
“A licensed veterinarian will examine all surrendered pats,” says Tinnell, “if they appear healthy, we’ll try to place them with willing qualified, adopters.”
I’ve posted on invasive species before, particularly iguanas and boas.
Every time I do, I get all sorts of commentary and email from iguana and boa owners who think I should be shot (literally) for suggesting that invasive species in Florida be hunted. They seem to have trouble getting their little minds around the idea that I’m not talking about family pets but feral animals that little-minded people have put into an environment where they aren’t welcome.
This “amnesty” program, which has a number of dates in a number of cities throughout Florida is great way for people to get rid of pets that they don’t want without doing more harm to the environment. Between this program and some generous hunting allowances, maybe the invasive animal situation could be brought back under control.
Tags: FL
February 5th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Family pets that go feral are just as damaging … cats are a particular problem.
These bunny huggers freak at any thought of putting unwanted and invasive animals down. But then they seem to have no problem with threatening sentient humans with death.
Self-hating lunatics. Just point and laugh. And keep your self-defense tools handy.
February 5th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Really big Pythons are appearing left and right, thriving and becoming a nightmare down here. Their number is growing so fast that they might displace Cubans as number one nonnative species in the near future.
February 6th, 2010 at 1:14 am
I suppose, being that I love my cat, that I would be pretty sad to see a feral cat hunt organized in my neighborhood. Especially if there was a risk of domestic cats getting bagged. I’m more partial to the catch and spay programs to try to control their populations, but then they are much more expensive to run.
Anyway, I can see how people that love those types of animals would find that solution cold. The solution is to not be an irresponsible owner, and until then, someone’s going to have to do something. I guess hunting is as good (and cheaper) as anything.
February 6th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Seriously? Why go through all that problem? Why not toss em off in the middle of the ocean? Or like, use em for some target practice?
February 7th, 2010 at 6:28 am
I can understand dog and cat owners who are concerned that their outdoor pet will be shot as feral by the same kind of yahoo that has trouble telling a cow from an 8-point buck… but who has ‘outdoor’ iguanas or boas?
February 8th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
Outdoor cats and loose dogs need to be rounded up and hauled to the pound. Let the owner bail it out the first few times.
You are not doing your cat any favors by letting it wander loose outside. You halve it’s average lifespan.