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Edited on Thu Feb-26-09 11:53 AM by pitohui
i don't find the article you cite and i don't know the text of the new law or if it will have any real effect on the keeping of primates in urban/suburban areas
however, we have a research facility in the greater new orleans area, in a highly populated area (covington) and i would strongly support better controls on these animals, which are used for research into dangerous viruses such as HIV/AIDS and so on
over the years these primates have escaped many, many, MANY times, and there is never anything done about it, such as fining the facility, even tho there's a private school nearby and the primates are frequently picked up on its campus
people are afraid to say anything "because it's jobs," yeah, well, some kid getting bitten and infected by a deadly disease would also be a job for the docs and the hospitals
i understand the need for research animals, esp. for life-threatening diseases, i even understand an argument can be made that you can't attract researchers unless the facility is in a location with high quality of life (covington is upscale) BUT i cannot understand why we tolerate the repeated sloppiness at a facility where you are researching deadly disease
just too many escapes over the years of these large dangerous animals, IF the act you cite means that the animals will be kept under more secure control, i'll all for it -- as i said, i would like to know more about it, email me if you find a better link (your link did not have the article at the top and as i scrolled down, i get kicked off the page and receive some kind of error message)
as for private people keeping large primates as pets, i see no reason why this should be tolerated unless the individual in question is strongly qualified and licensed in some way -- just my humble opinion but the world is too crowded now for eccentrics to be keeping lions, chimps, etc. in their homes without proof of ability to provide quality of life for those animals and reasonable safety to the public -- there may be a place for keeping these as pets in sanctuaries for older animals but again IF the keeper is highly qualified, licensed, etc.
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