Exotic Animals Are Not Pets; Pets Are Not People

Reading The New York Times this week felt like reading a screenplay of a Law & Order SVU episode. This episode involved a mentally instable individual who let loose over 50 exotic animals before killing himself. The Ohio police then hunted, shot, and killed these animals. Terry Thompson was clearly instable. He had just completed a jail sentence for possessing illegal firearms, had a history of abusing animals, and had vast debt over unpaid taxes. Why this man was allowed to house lions and tigers in the first place, I have no idea. At first, I regarded this news story as somewhat comical given how ridiculous the whole thing was. Then, upon reflection, I found a darker depth to the whole incident.

Peter Laufer, in his New York Times Op-Ed, channels the fear of these animals that had to be hunted by the police. To me, this extenuates the root of the issue. We should not feel for these animals as if they were our own pets and our own responsibility. I sympathize with animals that are poached in the wild. However, the only beings I feel for, in this case, are the hypothetical human beings who could have been mauled and killed if these animals had not been shot down. Clearly, tranquillizers would have been a more ideal option. However, the Ohio police are not trained to take down large animals alive.

Disagree with me if you will, but I see this chaotic news story as a hyperbolic example of what is wrong with people being too attached to their pets and to animals in general. I firmly believe that human life should always come first. Pets are dependents that stay dependent until they die. They have no future and no goals in life. Not too say that pets cannot express affection or promote happiness in their owners, but they cannot embody the complexities and the potential of a human life.

I should not have to feel like a bad person for saying that the Muskingum County Sheriff, Matt Lutz, made 100% the right choice in ordering the killing of these animals instead of sedating them with tranquillizing darts. Even wildlife experts agreed that killing the animals was the only
way to ensure the safety of the people of Zanesville. As Alexander Chancellor of the British newspaper The Guardian commentates, “There seems now to be quite a sizable number of people in America who would sooner put human lives at risk than cause a wild animal to die.”

Granted, I have never had a pet. However, I would say that what happened in Ohio is a bizarre circumstance that all in all had the best ending possible. It is one of those SVU episodes where they end up catching their perpetrator before it is too late.

(Photo by possumgirl2 under a Creative Commons license)