How Could a Kangaroo in a Suit Be Dangerous?
You can dress a kangaroo up like a traveling salesman and invite him into your bed, but that doesn't make him a good pet. So says lawmakers in the town of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. The town's city council are requiring Christie Carr, proud owner of a kangaroo named Irwin, to get a permit for her life partner.
39-year-old Carr adopted Irwin while working at an animal sanctuary. At the time, Irwin was an injured Joey, suffering from a paralyzing neck injury. Carr nursed him to health, neutered him, and bought him some corporate casual clothes (from Babyland General perhaps?). Now he sleeps in her bed every night and sits on her lap like a marionette. The end. Or is it....
Labeled an exotic animal, Carr learned she'd have to pay for a $500,000 insurance policy if she wanted to keep her pet in her home. An anonymous donor who I'd really like to meet footed the bill for her. But officials say Carr still hasn't finished filling out the proper paperwork and are threatening to remove the animal from her home.
In recent years, exotic animals have begun moving into suburban neighborhoods at an alarming rate. A 2010 documentary, "An Elephant in the Living Room," tracked the $20 billion industry of domesticated predators and their potentially dangerous living arrangements. According to an Ohio cop profiled in the film, a routine part of his job involves capturing bears, chimps, crocodiles, lions and other wild animals who've escaped from private owners and ended up prowling backyards and highways.
Technically, a full-sized 200 pound kangaroo with the ability to leap 22 feet at a time, could pose a threat to the neighborhood. But Irwin, who's paralyzed from the waist down, isn't likely to wreak much havoc.
Besides, he wears a tie.
Carr says Irwin serves as pet therapy, helping to combat her diagnosed depression. In return she feeds him popcorn and salad and changes his diaper on a near-constant basis. She's also bought him a baby car-seat for safe travels to the supermarket.
Carr says she still hasn't received the final paperwork needed to secure Irwin in her Broken Arrow home and she's made it clear: If Irwin goes, she goes. The Wild Heart Wildlife Ranch in Foyil, Oklahoma has offered a temporary home for the two of them. In the meantime, the couple are living with Carr's parents in a neighboring town. "[Irwin] loves it here," Carr told Tulsa World. "He gets spoiled rotten."
But is he still allowed to share a bed with Carr? Some parents are really old-fashioned about that.
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