Animal Planet is running a series called Fatal Attractions, about people who keep dangerous pets. One guy kept Gila monsters, Komodo dragons and other large lizard creatures in his apartment, and fed them white rats. The creatures ran unfettered through his apartment. Sometimes one of the "pets" would bite his hand as he fed them, but he never sought medical treatment.

When he didn't show up for work one day, co-workers went to check on him, and got no answer. But it was five days before the people living above him smelled something. Police found the lizard man dead, and his body partially eaten by the lizards. The medical examiner concluded that a lizard bite had made him ill and he didn't get help for it.

Another exotic pet keeper was a woman who kept an apartment full of deadly snakes. She was bitten by one, drove herself to the ER, told ER personnel what kind of snake had bitten her, and lapsed into a coma. With no anti-venom to give her, she died. When police went to her apartment, they found the snakes all over--one of the investigators said he lifted up a cardboard box and a cobra reared up. (I bet he had to change his britches!)

Another case was of a couple who had raised a chimp they named Moe, as their child. After 30 plus years, Moe became too unruly to keep at home, was accused of biting someone, so he was sent to a sanctuary. On his birthday, Moe's "parents" took him a birthday cake and sat outside his enclosure to celebrate. The couple wasn't aware two other chimps had escaped. These chimps attacked the couple, tearing off the mans face. He survived, but his wounds were terrible.

And there is a man who keeps large cats. He thinks he and the cats have a special understanding, that's why they have never attacked him. (Hey you, Mr. Deluded--remember Seigfried and Roy? They thought they had a special understanding, too, until their special cat Montefiore came within a hair of killing Roy by biting him in the neck.)

Wild animals are wild, with natural instincts that can never be tamed, no matter how much love you give them, and should be left in the wild. And pet shops that sell these creatures should be forbidden to do so and sued when any of the dim bulbs who buy them are injured. BTW; WHY does the US allow importation of these exotic pests--er "pets?"

susil