200 Pound Chimpanzee Attack Sparks Unnecessary Panic Among Politician's

    WYNNEWOOD, OK, February 27, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Since the Chimp accident in Connecticut just the last week, The G.W. Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood OK is flooded with phone calls to rescue more chimps. Park Director Joe Schreibvogel who is also the Vice President of the United States Zoological Association, "say's" in the last 72 hours he has received phone calls to rescue 37 monkeys, 1-36 year old chimp, 2 bears, 1-78 year old man all the way from South Carolina to southern Texas. Yes the man must come with the chimp as neither have anywhere else to go.

The recent accident in Connecticut has sparked a lot of attention with law makers in the United States jumping on the ban wagon to make unnecessary ban laws against Primates and other exotic animals. "This has got to stop says," Joe. "Our law makers have to think of what their doing. Every law passed has a reverse consequences he states. If you pass a ban law, these animals must go somewhere else, and if every state bans them, where are they going to go? The facilities that are taken them are running out of room and already out of money."

Schreibvogel states that the next step is to file lawsuits against the states that ban these animals without setting aside state money to move and care for them. Schreibvogel filed a lawsuit against the State of Oklahoma a few years back for boarding animals he had to take in for the State and it was settled out of court. "We are not looking for a bunch of lawsuits," Schreibvogel say's, "we are looking for lawmakers whether State, Federal, or local to work with the USZA and Uniting a Pro Active Primate and Exotic Animal League in writing fair laws that professional breeders, owners, and exhibitors can live with and keep people safe." There is no dispute that the Accident in Connecticut should have been avoided and the USZA firmly stands behind saying that there are owners out there that shouldn't own exotics just like there are people who shouldn't have children. But that is no reason to punish all involved.

Facts show that an estimated 15 monkey bites per year vs 100,000 dog bites is not a reason to go hog wild and ban all primates and other exotic animals. Working with an organization such at UAPPEAL and the USZA we can help write laws to incest on perimeter fences, proper caging, locks, and emergency protocols, registering the animals with the first responders in the area. And by no means do we support taking a 200 pound chimp for a ride in your car.

Some laws are being made are totally against the law, buy enacting an illegal monopoly by forcing people to join one certain club, such as the AZA (Association of Zoo's and Aquariums). Most of the law makers Schreibvogel has talked to in the recent weeks did not even know the AZA was not a federal association, they are just a private group who has an input on what they think is right or wrong ways of keeping exotics, but more accidents are in AZA facilities. "There is no easy way to solve any of this," Schreibvogel says, "but passing ban laws is not the right answer, someone is going to have to foot the bill on taking care of the animals and the private sector that is caring for these animals are fed up with beating the doors down to raise money only from the private sector. The states are going to have to step up and pay the bills of moving and caring for these unwanted animals or President Obama is going to have to introduce another stimulus package to bale out the unwanted exotic animal problem," states Schreibvogel.

UAPPEAL is a non-profit 501c4 please visit both at www.uappeal.org and www.usza.us

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