excellent points jo...
in all seriousness, i think the one thing that needs to be looked at is that burms and retic and a couple other species really are dangerous animals. i'm not advocating a moratorium on ownership, but i think things today are getting pretty silly and out of hand. i mean, there are inherant risks with any pet... and when you take an exotic pet into ownership, the risks usually go up. going one step further, when you take an apex predator on as a pet, and don't respect it for what it is.... then you're creating a recipe for disaster... and that's all this situation was. an absolute tragedy, i couldn't even imagine.
i'm not trying to call anyone out, but i think there's a culture of ineptitude and apathy with large constrictors that is pretty alarming. from the owners all the way up to the breeders, i think the general mindset is alllllll wrong. i mean balls, boas, carpets, etc are one thing, but the difference between a ball and a retic is like the difference between owning a bengal cat and a tiger.
i'm all about letting the people govern themselves, but this event (plus having a two year old myself) has really opened my eyes further to the fact that a lot of people out there just aren't taking things as seriously as they should.
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