Here’s a great idea! This news item is from Miami, Florida where they recently held a Pet Amnesty Day. To protect the community from abandoned exotic pets, as well as protect the pets themselves from being released into the wild, the Miami Zoo is working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to accept these relinquished pets.
Florida has been looking for ways to solve the problem of exotic animals being released into the wild. Many fall prey to Florida predators. Still others BECOME predators like the 13 foot Burmese python that was found dead after trying to swallow a six foot long alligator!
Approximately one hundred people lined up to relinquish their pets to zoo officials on Pet Amnesty Day. The “amnesty” part is a result of waiving fines that a person can receive if they release their pet into the wild. There are heavy fines and even jail time for releasing snakes.
As a result of Pet Amnesty Day, many of the animals were adopted on the spot by responsible owners, while others went to foster homes and shelters.
We applaud this terrific idea and wonder how it can apply to the domestic animals that are released into the wild or otherwise abandoned at shelters.
