Justice for Wilbur Cat - Please sign petition

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Very well said Andy 

[andyg]

Just read this as I've just signed up to the forum and would definitely have signed the petition. I have endorsed the inclusion of large constrictors in the DWA many times before. I really love and am fascinated by herptiles and am the owner of a beautiful 6 ft long, 19 year old fully grown female Royal Python who came to me as an unwanted pet rescue following her owners divorce. With ownership of such an exotic and beautiful creature demands that the owner be fully responsible and learned about husbandry of the animal, that anyone can go and buy a juvenile Burmese python, a potentially lethal adult predator, for a small sum of money from a pet shop is not only morally abhorrent, but in my mind criminally negligent of our government.

This case just really upset me when I heard about it in the papers, we have 5 rescue cats ourselves who we love and adore, and to see the idiocy and complacent behaviour of the snakes owner made me so angry. what in the hell were they doing allowing it to roam outside without close supervision by a minimum of 2 handlers ???? Madness. Any true responsible herptile owner will tell you that this is plain dangerous, any constrictor over 10 feet in length should always be handled by a minimum of 2 people, be in a properly secure and environmentally controlled vivarium and never be allowed to be in the vicinity of any other animal. Personally, even being a responsible, experienced herptile handler, I would NEVER even consider the ownership of any large constrictor outside of the professional zoo environment. Even with "Scales", my Python, despite her being a smaller species, she is in a locked vivarium constructed securely of wood and toughened glass and this in turn is kept inside a secure locked office in my house. She is always handled in there and the office door is locked during any handling sessions.
If there were any true justice, the owner would have been prosecuted and punished and be banned from ever owning an animal again.

Poor Wilbur.

[SparkleCat]

Signed,

[weesilvie]

Signed

[catzy123]

What a horrifying story I tried to sign the petition also, but couldn't because I'm not a UK citizen 

[Poisonivy]

 Signed

[Christine (Blip)]

  to Purrs, Henrietta.  Glad you found us.  As you'll have seen, I've signed the petition: may I ask, are you connected to Wilbur and his family?

[henrietta]

Fingers crossed we can double the response.  I signed the petition direct before realising your forum existed so my numbers related to that.

The fact that so many people care is encouraging.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I just looked at the petition site and  3500 plus sigs....I say just but that has gone up by over a 1000 since yesterday.

I think the 23000 figure comes from the hits on Wilburs website

[henrietta]

23000 signatures so far so let's hope the Government listen.  They plan to loosen the laws this Autumn so things will get worse!

[bonnielass]

Signed, the poor owners of the cat must be heartbroken

[NotSoKittyNewbie]

Signed!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

bumping the link

http://www.justiceforwilbur.co.uk/

[rlcolville]

signed

[Rosella moggy]

Signed

[Bazsmum]

This may help to get it go through quicker methinks! 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090809/tuk-teenager-attacked-with-snake-police-a7ad41d.html

[Mark]

Signed! 

One of the problems is that very often, the kind of people that are least able & willing are the kind that keep dangerous animals. I understand the are two sides to this argument and it is very emotive as the victim was a cat but I really think snakes should be confined.

[Bazsmum]

Signed! 

I have signed  .  What on earth motivates people to keep dangerous animals like this as pets [sic]?  At the very least, they should have to be licensed and controlled.

[Tiggerman]

Already signed on catchat.

I am not anti snake - but leaving a 13 foot python in your back garden is just not safe!!

[harlequin]

Signed

[Christine (Blip)]

I have signed  .  What on earth motivates people to keep dangerous animals like this as pets [sic]?  At the very least, they should have to be licensed and controlled.

The animals licensed and the owners controlled, that is. 

[Den]

Sorry but I cannot and will not sign this. I'm afraid things like this make me mad. The poor snake was in it's own garden and never left. This is exactly why I don't agree with cats roaming. I certainly don't agree with the snakes being licenced either.

[bunglycat]

Signed    - that should be in a Zoo and the owners prosecuted 

[Janeyk]

Yep I've signed that Tan, it's so sad 

[Tan]

http://www.justiceforwilbur.co.uk/

On the evening of June 25th 2009, our beautiful and adorable cat Wilbur was attacked, brutally asphyxiated and consumed whole by a 13 ft long Burmese Python. The snake had been left unattended in its owners unsecured back garden.

Even though a snake of this size could kill a grown adult, let alone a small child, they are not considered a threat to the general public by the Government. Pythons (and Boa Constrictors) do not have to be licensed, nor does the law regulate how they must be kept.
We want to see the law amended to include these snakes in the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.

PLease sign the petition to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to revise the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, to include Pythons, Boa Constrictors and any non venomous but lethal snake. Click on link.

No Nasty Pictures whatsoever in this link!