I, too, struggle with the cage part, as well as the fact that the caretakers of this magnificant wild animal had it spayed and declawed. I live near Detroit (thank goodness not too close though) and there have been tons of wild exotics that have been declawed and detoothed by drug dealers who buy this beautiful, baby animals, only to find out they are not pets. They end up being dumped at the shelters, and guess what??? The shelters can't relocate them to zoos because either the zoos are all full of other "homeless" wild animals or they have been declawed and detoothed.

I love these animals in the wild, I love watching them on the nature shows, but I think it's way out of line to own one as a pet. They simply are not made for the life of a house pet. I get monthly newsletters from MHS (Michigan Humane Society) and in just about every newsletter there's stories of lions, cougars, tigers, monkeys, and other exotic animals who had all of their natural defense taken away from them, leaving some crippled, on top of being underfed and under nourished. They were usually owned by drug dealers and then when they out grew their "house pet" size, they were either dumped at MHS or they were confiscated. They usually end up being put to sleep either because they have no room for them in the zoos or because they can't be put in with other animals due to the loss of their defense.

Cindy is truly beautiful. Sorry to not agree with the owning of her as a "pet" though. I just don't think it's kind to the animal and it's just plain dangerous to the human caretakers.