Kelly Ann Walz, 37, was killed yesterday by the black bear she and her husband, Michael, owned as part of a group of exotic animals they kept on their Ross Township property.
Kelly had gone into the cage to feed the bear. She threw a scoop of dog food to the one side of the cage to distract the bear while she cleaned the other side of that same cage. Apparently the 15 by 15- foot steel and concrete cage is not divided.
For whatever reason, the bear turned around and attacked Mrs. Walz. Her children and the neighbor’s children witnessed the attacked. They ran for help with the end result of the neighbor shooting and killing the bear while it was on top of Walz.
The fatal attack on Mrs. Walz is a tragic story, indeed. Her husband, Michael, let their permit to have this pet bear, expire in June of last year. I don’t feel that has any relevance to this case. They also have a Bengal Tiger and an African Lion.
I guess the question for me is why? Why does someone have to have wild or exotic animals? Do they not belong in the wild where they are meant to be? I can understand if a wild animal is permanently injured and cannot defend itself against attackers. But, I feel one should have to be tested to be qualified to own such an animal. These are wild animals, not your ordinary dog or cat.
For a bear to be placed in a 15 by 15-foot enclosure sounds incredibly inhumane. A bear needs to roam, be free. Why do people feel the need to take a wild animal out of his habitat and force it to live in a small area for its entire life? To me, it is for purely selfish reasons unless as I stated previously, the animal has suffered from an irreversible injury and can’t protect itself. But the animal should only be raised by someone who is qualified to do so. I don’t know if the Walz’s were qualified or not.
According to the Wild Animal Protection Coalition, it has becoming increasingly popular to own bears as pets. They say few people have the facilites to care for these dangerous wild animals and most of them live out their lives alone, chained in backyards or kept in inadequate, cramped enclosures which is what it seems to be in this case.
There are no federal regulations in the US banning pet bear ownership ( I didn’t know this) or exotic animals. Twelve states ban private possession of exotic animals, seven states have a partial ban and fifteen require a license or permit.
If you look on the internet, you can purchase just about any type of wild or exotic animal. Where are the regulations? And why aren’t there qualifications to meet to have a wild/exotic animal? Something has to be done.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Walz family.