Very recently a Ohio man released 50 of his exotic pets and police had to shoot them because these freed animals were running around loose everywhere including tigers, lions and bears. Among 18 of those shot were endangered Bengal tigers. See   http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20111019/NEWS/310190090/18-endangered-Bengal-tigers-among-those-killed-exotic-animal-park?odyssey=nav%7Chead​

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/19/opinion/travers-escape-wild-animals-ohio/

Ohio Tragedy Shows Wild Animals Belong in the Wild. 10/19/11, CNN:
"Exotic animals must not be exploited as "pets" or backyard oddities.
Will Travers: Ohio slaughter of 48 wild animals, including 18 tigers and 17 lions, is appalling Ohio has a record of violent encounters between animals and people, he says

"Owning" exotic animals inexcusable, he says, and also puts human lives at risk."

WHY WE NEED A FEDERAL BAN: "Conservationists have for years demanded strict US wildlife ownership laws, especially in Alabama, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin, where no such laws exist. "All eight states that don't have regulations..," Roberts told AFP. " Stop people acquiring these animals. "I always ask myself, what is it going to take? Is it going to take a woman getting mauled nearly to death by a chimpanzee, as happened in Connecticut? Well, no. People around the country can still have primates." http://news.yahoo.com/us-police-kill-escaped-lions-tigers-bears-020951746.html

EXPENSIVE: Exotic animals have become an invasive problem most costly to the ecosystem and dangerous for human safety. Monstrous sized snakes such as Burmese pythons and anacondas are bred in States allowing them.  Private breeders advertise them on the internet and overnight deliver them anywhere in the USA -sometimes mailing them where prohibited.  For Southern States cost of eradication goes into the billions every year.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/01/federal-officials-move-to-ban-imports-of-nine-species-of-constrictor-snake.html

"In 2009, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Inspectors at Kennedy handled more than 27,000 wildlife shipments valued at more than $1 billion, or 16% of all U.S. wildlife imports. Last year, 54,000 live reptiles entered through the New York airport. The proposed ban covers nine species of giant constrictor snakes including the Burmese, North African and South African pythons, the boa constrictor, and the anaconda - green, yellow and Bolivian, as listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. About 1 million such snakes have been imported in the last 30 years and more have been bred domestically."

Exotic species diminish native species diversity, harm ecosystems, and cost U.S. industries billions of dollars.

http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/landuse/vol102/wade.html

Chimpanzees as pets-when they reach puberty, they become dangerously unpredictable and aggressive, and can rip off a person's face or limbs with the greatest of ease.

ZOONOTIC DISEASES: Exotic species carry all kinds of unknown viruses including SARS and EBOLA. HIV originated from chimpanzees-harmless to them, deadly to humans.  Herpes B which causes deadly brain meningitis has originated from monkeys (and these animals still harbor these diseases).

Therefore exotic species should banned as pets.

Every year the United States tax payers spend $2 billion a year on animal control killing 10 to 20 million homeless and unwanted dogs and cats - if people want a pet-adopt them instead.

Please read: CBS NEWS:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/19/eveningnews/main20122812.shtml

October 19, 2011 6:59 PM Exotic animals are not your average pets

"Martine Colette runs the Wildlife Waystation, a sanctuary outside Los Angeles for nearly 500 animals -- everything from chimps to alligators to tigers -- who were once in people's homes or backyards. "It may be a wonderful thing for an individual to have them as a pet," Colette said, "but it's a miserable life for the individual animal. It's not who it's supposed to be." They end up at the Waystation when most owners inevitably realize they are not like other pets.  "It is not a dog," she said. "It will never be a dog. You can love it like you love your dog, but a tiger is a tiger, and a lion is a lion. "  "The problem is that getting exotic pets is all too easy. They are sold on auction and in the classifieds of animal magazines, where $8,000 can buy you a baby tiger and $30,000 for a snow tiger."

Thank you.