John and Anthony did a great job with Christian and there are other examples of truly wild animals and their masters. However, sometimes matters don’t work out as well. In October of 2003, during a performance at the Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada, Roy Horn of the duo Siegfried and Roy, was bitten on the neck by Montecore, a seven-year old male tiger. The animal had been trained by Horn since he was a cub. It is possible that Montecore was just trying to drag Horn off to safety after he fell. Horn had extensive surgery and was in rehabilitation for some time.
On February 24, 2010, trainer Dawn Brancheau was drowned by one of Sea World’s killer whales. Tilikum, a six-ton orca, grabbed hold of Brancheau’s ponytail while the trainer was lying on a ledge of shallow water. This happened in front of park guests. Despite each animal’s training, tragedy struck.
Many people have exotic animals such as 67
pythons, crocodiles and iguanas for pets. In most cases, this is not a good choice for anyone to make.
In the Florida Everglades, there is a huge problem with the ecosystem because of the preponderance of pythons – most likely this was caused by someone dumping off one of their pets that was too huge too handle.
The island of Guam is known for its unwanted snakes. The brown snake became a part of the environment shortly after World War II, when Guam imported lumber from New Guinea. It is reported that the brown snake came as a bonus in these shipments. It was a silent invasion that no one paid much attention to until the 1970s, when the Unites States Fish and Wildlife Service noticed that several species of birds were no longer to be found on the island. In all, nine bird species and five lizard species became extinct because of these unwelcome visitors.
Some of these unusual choices for pets may look really cute at first, but the result may be environmental disaster because of overpopulating, or harm to the owner. Christian could have turned on Rendall and Bourke – luckily he didn’t – and hurt either of them, even if unintentionally. Other species of wild creatures can injure their owners and others nearby, no matter what size. A better choice is a dog, cat or pet rock. That last choice – more a bit later – isn’t that great an option since you’ll get 68
no response from it. That may be exactly what some people want, and others deserve.
Annabel has great masters, but every so often she leaves them presents – unwrapped – that they never asked for and really don’t want, despite the fact that she’s housebroken. She does this because they leave her for extended periods of time and she misses them. Purrrl, on the other hand, doesn’t mind being alone as long as she has enough cat chow and water. Of course, she may be fine for a time, but does like someone to show up and pet her, especially behind the ears. Parrots, turtles and pet chickens probably feel the same way. In the latter case, she would rather not be placed in a pot of boiling water, even in the dead of winter.
What was stated earlier about cute exotic pets applies equally in the case of domestic little ones. Too many children want a pet collie or St.
Bernard, but fail to realize that the animal is a huge responsibility. Promises are made, but it’s not too long before a child forgets to give food and water to Spot, or to clean up pet deposits left on the kitchen floor. It might get worse as an offspring just becomes so lazy, he doesn’t want to bother with Fang. This behavior may result in the parent being stuck with the job. She may not be too happy with the child and takes it out on Fang. This occurs more often than it should.
You’ve heard of animal abuse, well this is 69
the start of it, or could be. The more extreme cases have so-called adults mistreating a cat or dog.
There’s reason for Rover’s revenge, which in turn could result in further beating of the animal.
Amazingly, Fang could tear up DVD covers and get into the chocolate – this indulgence could kill him, and it affects many dogs in the same way – his owner could smack him gently, and our dejected dog might still come over to be petted and hugged.
Animals can forget.
Even loving owners of pets can unwillingly mistreat Farful. Just by going to work for eight hours will do the trick. That’s because Farful is alone in the house and wants some affection. Some breeds can be by themselves for longer periods of time without calling Dr. Phil. Christian handled it quite well, but after all, he is a cat.
In the 1970s, advertising executive Gary Dahl came up with pet rocks in answer to requests for a maintenance-free companion. Basically, a pet rock was nothing more than a stone, which eventually wound up with eyes. Each sold for about four dollars and came with a thirty-two page training manual. The fad lasted only a few months –
I can’t imagine any intelligent person taking that long to see through this lunacy – and the dog and cat food industry probably wasn’t too pleased with the idea. The original pet rocks are difficult to find today, but you can go to the shore and find a rock or 70
two for a pet, if you so desire.
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