CT: Cracking Down on Exotic Pets

Travis the chimp destroyed Charla Nash’s face, eyesight and her trust in wild animals when the animal mauled her on this date in 2009.

That horrific attack on Feb. 16, 2009 thrust Connecticut’s exotic animal laws into the spotlight and the state Department of Environmental Protection is revamping the law and planning to ban chimps, gorillas, orangutans, pythons and some more common animals, like wild ferrets.

Dozens of animal lovers, reptile shop owners and exhibitors voices their concerns at a public hearing at DEP headquarters in Hartford on Tuesday.

“It will really hurt the reptile industry. Connecticut, for a long time, has had some really lenient laws on the big snake and lizard community. A ban would be devastating,” Jeremy Turgeon, of J and D Reptiles, said.

Pet Chimp Killed After Attacking Woman
The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk said, under proposed changes, it would no longer be considered an aquarium and some of its interactive exhibits would become illegal.

“We have a number of touch tanks. We take programs into the schools that used horseshoe crabs and sea stars. We expose 20,000 kids to that,” Jack Schneider said.

The DEP admits that more work must be done before any changes become law.

“One of the things we really need to clarify is our definition of domestic animal and wild animal. To be clear, these regulations would only apply to wild animals,” said Rick Jacobson, the director of the DEP’s wildlife division.

An attorney for the Nash family also attended the hearing and said the family plans to sue the state for $150 million, claiming the current law was never enforced.
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/l...116286189.html

Originally Posted by EricWI

Travis the chimp destroyed Charla Nash’s face, eyesight and her trust in wild animals when the animal mauled her on this date in 2009.

That horrific attack on Feb. 16, 2009 thrust Connecticut’s exotic animal laws into the spotlight and the state Department of Environmental Protection is revamping the law and planning to ban chimps, gorillas, orangutans, pythons and some more common animals, like wild ferrets.

Dozens of animal lovers, reptile shop owners and exhibitors voices their concerns at a public hearing at DEP headquarters in Hartford on Tuesday.

“It will really hurt the reptile industry. Connecticut, for a long time, has had some really lenient laws on the big snake and lizard community. A ban would be devastating,” Jeremy Turgeon, of J and D Reptiles, said.

Pet Chimp Killed After Attacking Woman
The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk said, under proposed changes, it would no longer be considered an aquarium and some of its interactive exhibits would become illegal.

“We have a number of touch tanks. We take programs into the schools that used horseshoe crabs and sea stars. We expose 20,000 kids to that,” Jack Schneider said.

The DEP admits that more work must be done before any changes become law.

“One of the things we really need to clarify is our definition of domestic animal and wild animal. To be clear, these regulations would only apply to wild animals,” said Rick Jacobson, the director of the DEP’s wildlife division.

An attorney for the Nash family also attended the hearing and said the family plans to sue the state for $150 million, claiming the current law was never enforced.
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/l...116286189.html

They get to sue because she broke the law? I hope I'm reading that wrong!

Originally Posted by Roger Prows

They get to sue because she broke the law? I hope I'm reading that wrong!

Yep. Because the law was not enforced.
CT is one messed up state.

For clarification, Charla Nash, the plaintiff, was NOT the owner of Travis, although she was on the scene by her own volition.

It's still a matter of responsibility for the chimps owner. She was a TERRIBLE owner. Gave the animal human drugs (xanex) and did not take any precautions with the chimp.
Now because of one IDIOT, the entire state will pay.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/articl...=comments&sc=0

The owner was beyond terrible. According to this article, Travis escaped on several previous occasions and had bitten at least two other people since 2003, so the city was aware of the issues with him and CHOSE NOT TO ENFORCE EXISTING DANGEROUS ANIMAL LAWS THAT WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS. In another article it said that Travis kept escaping because he knew how to unlock doors with the keys and as this article states, the owner regularly gave him WINE. If the city would have enforced this to begin with there never would have been a problem. The city deserved to be sued for criminal negligence.