Top 10 reasons not to have a pet bear

[Cyrrex]

Or, just the one reason:  http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/05/bear.attack/index.html

(CNN) -- A 37-year-old Pennsylvania woman died Sunday after being mauled by her pet black bear, authorities said.

Kelly Ann Walz was attacked when she entered the bear's cage to feed the 350-pound animal and clean its cage, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The bear lived in a 15-by-15-foot steel and concrete enclosure on Walz's property in Ross Township.

The bear wasn't the only unusual animal living on the property, an official with the State Game Commission told CNN affiliate WFMZ-TV. The homeowner had a permit to keep a Bengal tiger and an African lion, and the property routinely passed inspection and had no violations, he said.

A neighbor shot and killed the bear that attacked the owner, state police said.

I like how these stories end up with the valiant passerby or police officer who kills the animal in question, like we're all supposed to cheer or something.  Bear was just being a bear.

[Nevermore]

[Oban]

[Righ]

 

[01101010]

jeezus christ just another reason why i SHOULD NOT be living in Pennsylvania... not because of the bear mind you, but because everybody in this state is 

[ghost]

We're here, we're clear, we don't want any more bears!

[Sir T]

Goddam bears, moving into our neighborhoods, eating our women...

[Merusk]

Goddam bears, moving into our neighborhoods, eating our women...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/98494/the-cleveland-show-cleveland-meets-tim

[Lakov_Sanite]

I'm not saying it's right to shoot a bear for being a bear but if you saw one in a cage next to your dead friend/neighbor or whatever, you'd be hard pressed to not want to shoot it. Also, unless it's clear the person is dead then you need to get in the cage and check on them asap and you can't do that with a living bear inside that's already mauled someone.

It's sad all around but I can't find myself getting angry at anyone involved here.

[Merusk]

I dunno, I'm pretty peeved with the dead person.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Edit le fake: Yes, she was dumb and could have avoided all of this by not having a pet bear(was she using it for movies or any legitimate purpose beyond wanting a RL carebear?)

[MahrinSkel]

Standard procedure just about everywhere in the US is that if an animal kills a human, the animal is put down, and nobody takes any risks making it happen.  Even the tiger that attacked Roy Horn (of Siegfried and Roy) was going to be euthanized if he died.  He saved Animal Control a bullet (because they wouldn't have tried anything more humane with a bear, even the Forest Service shoots them when needed).

--Dave

[Cyrrex]

Well, it may be inhumane of me to say so, but I always feel worse for the animal in these kinds of stories.  The human is the one behaving unnaturally here.

[HaemishM]

You gotta let a playa be a playa! (Or a bear be a bear, in this case) Don't be hatin'!

[Signe]

Well, it may be inhumane of me to say so, but I always feel worse for the animal in these kinds of stories.  The human is the one behaving unnaturally here.

Although I understand the reasoning behind it all and I respect that a human life is more important than an animal (I know, it's iffy!), I always feel more sorry for animals and children in these sorts of stories.  Especially animals.  Bad me.  Unless an animal kills a baby or something.  Then I just sort of stare into space until I forget about the entire incident.

[Cyrrex]

Well, it may be inhumane of me to say so, but I always feel worse for the animal in these kinds of stories.  The human is the one behaving unnaturally here.

Although I understand the reasoning behind it all and I respect that a human life is more important than an animal (I know, it's iffy!), I always feel more sorry for animals and children in these sorts of stories.  Especially animals.  Bad me.  Unless an animal kills a baby or something.  Then I just sort of stare into space until I forget about the entire incident.

I know!

Crap, I think I might be turning into a woman.

[Signe]

What?  Again?

Seriously, though, if you can manage to kiss your own elbow, it's likely you'll turn into a woman.

[01101010]

Although I understand the reasoning behind it all and I respect that a human life is more important than an animal (I know, it's iffy!), I always feel more sorry for animals and children in these sorts of stories.  Especially animals.  Bad me.

I RARELY side with the human. Animals act and react, humans make the decisions to put themselves in stupidfuck situations. Faulting the animal in this case is nonsense. Same with that chimp that went apeshit (pun SCORE!) on that woman and was shot to death. Hell, I'd even go so far as to side with the animals in the cases of trail runners/hikers/bikers. Cougar attacks on a trail in the wilderness should be met with the same hesitation as a trip and fall off a cliff or a snake bite. Its not wilderness if there is no risk involved. I can't wait for the day when the last of its kind <insert animal> attacks and kills a person... then what?

All that said, I do say this in the contexts of the United States. I'd venture to say in the plains of Africa or jungles of South America or Southeast Asia where big game predators do in fact hunt human beings, then it might be necessary to get the village into a mob and go kill the beast.

[Ingmar]

Yeah I'll pretty much pick the animal every time. We have lots of people, we don't have very many tigers (etc.)

[Sir T]

I read somewhere that 90% of snakebites are in the hand, which is a sure sign the human was at fault. Hell even steve Erwin was covered in scars from bites, and he said every one of them was his fault.

[lac]

On the other hand, 90% of chicken bites are in the foot. Which is a sure sign sandals are a pretty dumb thing to wear in a chicken pen.

[Merusk]

All that said, I do say this in the contexts of the United States. I'd venture to say in the plains of Africa or jungles of South America or Southeast Asia where big game predators do in fact hunt human beings, then it might be necessary to get the village into a mob and go kill the beast.

Animals in the US are losing their fear of Humans.  We haven't hunted them in so long AND we've squeezed them for resources to the point they're becoming aggressive and impinging on human cities once again.  We've got Cougars and Coyotes showing up in the suburbs from time to time in Cincinnati.  Then there's that Raccoon attack that just happened the other day.   I've read before that Bears are also (in no small part due to human stupidity of feeding them) beginning to encroach on some cities out west as well.

Tim Bedore is right, the animals are moving against us!

[Cyrrex]

All that said, I do say this in the contexts of the United States. I'd venture to say in the plains of Africa or jungles of South America or Southeast Asia where big game predators do in fact hunt human beings, then it might be necessary to get the village into a mob and go kill the beast.

Animals in the US are losing their fear of Humans.  We haven't hunted them in so long AND we've squeezed them for resources to the point they're becoming aggressive and impinging on human cities once again.  We've got Cougars and Coyotes showing up in the suburbs from time to time in Cincinnati.  Then there's that Raccoon attack that just happened the other day.   I've read before that Bears are also (in no small part due to human stupidity of feeding them) beginning to encroach on some cities out west as well.

Tim Bedore is right, the animals are moving against us!

Here's hoping they get some of their territory back!

What?  Again?

Seriously, though, if you can manage to kiss your own elbow, it's likely you'll turn into a woman.

Well, I wasn't able to, despite trying for a good 10 minutes.  OTOH, my nipples are rather sensitive lately.

[tazelbain]

The humans worth rooting for tend to not get themselves in man vs animal situations.

[Ard]

The humans worth rooting for tend to not get themselves in man vs animal situations.

Too soon?

[Strazos]

If she had just kept talking, she would have scared away the bear.

[ghost]

This surprises me about as much as the people that get their testicles and face eaten off by their "pet" chimpanzees.  Seriously, why do people need to keep animals besides dogs/cats/gerbils, etc.?

[Signe]

I don't know, either.  It makes me sad when people take animals out of the wild and domesticate them for no other reason than they're afraid to get penis enlargement surgery.   

[Tebonas]

I don't see human lives as being worth more than animal lives.

That may make me a psychopath, but just look at the numbers. There are about 600k black bears in the US, while there are about 300 million people. Which means each bear would have to kill 500 people before humans are worth more.

Supply and demand. And I'm not even talking about looks here. Most bears look cute, while only a small minority of people do so.

[Signe]

Well, bears are deceptive.  They look cute and fuzzy and cuddly.  You want to hug them.  That's their trap.

[Cyrrex]

I wonder if salmon also find bears to be cute as we humans do.  "Oooohhh look at the cute widdle bear....OH CHRIST I AM BEING EATING ALIVE BY A FUCKING BEAR OH HELP ME JESUS!"

[Tebonas]

Theres a good chance those were Kelly Ann Walzes last thoughts as well.

[Tale]

[Sky]

Pet bear?

If you keep something in a cage, it is a prisoner, not a pet.

And I'm always rooting for the animal, they're way behind on the k:d.

[voodoolily]

You gotta let a playa be a playa! (Or a bear be a bear, in this case) Don't be hatin'!

Can I get a wut wut?



(Shout out to my geologist homies)