Should people be allowed to have exotic pets?

if i were to say people should not be allowed to own anything capable of killing them, it would come down to pretty much everything in the househoold going out the door, so i guess that would be a silly answer. however i have serious issues with people who have small children and boa constrictors living in the same household. i also have major issues with people releasing them into environments they are not native to. dh removed a 6 footer from the crawlspace under an older womens house once, she said she was hearing weird sounds from under there and when dh went to investigate he got quite a surprise.

due to the issues like the above mentioned, i am of the opinion that animals should be limited to the geographical locations they are native to, with the exception of some birds, fish and uninvasive reptiles.

 i wonder how mexico would feel about a bunch of polar bears running loose around their cities [&:].

However.. if this isn't happy I don't know what is.

 
Oh, gosh I can help you with that! [] Note the lack of humans and yet, somehow the animals look fulfilled and happy...how strange!

 

 

 

wonder how mexico would feel about a bunch of polar bears running loose around their cities

 
hey that sounds like that show 'Lost'...lmao.... 

Gina, the wild is great. However, the wild also offers some other things to consider: No shelter from elements (climate/habitat depending) no medical care, danger from other animals, danger from humans, danger from diseases..
 
Yes, those animals look happy.
Are you trying to tell me the ones Aery and I posted don't?

ORIGINAL: rwbeagles

 

wonder how mexico would feel about a bunch of polar bears running loose around their cities

hey that sounds like that show 'Lost'...lmao.... 

 
Hey, that's a great show.  xD
 
We went a whole season without seeing a polar bear, but they had one third season again.  Made me happy, I was wondering where they went. 
 
/spam/

the wild also offers some other things to consider: No shelter from elements (climate/habitat depending) no medical care, danger from other animals, danger from humans, danger from diseases..

YYYep....that's why they call it the wild...that'd also be is why Nature made the creatures that live in it, so well adapted to it.  Nothing you point out above is unnatural, or fear provoking to a wild thing. The wild, is not "great"...it simply "is".

ORIGINAL: ruffian

My personal views on it is this, if it grows too large, or lives to long for the average person to care for it should not be kept as a pet.  This includes iguanas, snakes larger than 3.5-4 feet, large cats, most lizards, large parrots and turtles to name a few.  If you want to own these animals and are willing to properly care for them hen applying for a special license to own them shouldn't be a big deal.  To often people get them without even bothering to learn about them it is estimated that something like 90% of iguanas sold in the US die within 2 years due to improper care.  The same follows for most herps if they do manage to survive then most are handed from one person to the next, or set free messing with local habitats or dieing horribly in the wild.  Large parrots such as macaw that have a life span of 75-80 years are often bought by older people that dont allow the bird to bond with others, when their person is no longer there they fade away, often unalbe to bond with someone else.  The other problem is that most of these animals grow so large, people do not realise that a 6 foot iguana or snake need a bedroom to live in, parrots as well need a large space.

 
i agree with you. I have owed Iguanas, and still own a turtle. They are considered exotic. When I got my first 2 iguanas I was told just feed them lettuce and use a 60 watt light, no wonder why they never grew and died with in the year. My 3rd iguana, I reaserched for over a year on their needs. I got him he got to be 5 feet, he lived in my room, then moved to the basment (when I moved my room down there). There is so much to know about these animals. Pet store workers are not aware of the up keep and care. My 3rd iguana, Bakardi. got a bone disease, from poor care and breeding. he cost us (well my mum lol) well over 500 dollers to fix, we cared about him and he was a family memebr, so price wasnt a option. but I bet many people buy them, find out they are sick, take them in and see how much it costs to fix them. And release them thinking they will survive. I live in Canada, give me a break like hell hey will survive.
 
Same goes for turtles. people just set them free, my friends cottage has hundreds of them taking over the area. My turtle is almost 15, and he will be kept until the day he unforutenetly passes away also.
 
pets are for life, not for a few weeks until their baby faces go away.

I really dont think many people should own such animals as big cats and wolves and bears. Only certain people, and they should go through a  whole bunch of tests to get one such as learning how to own one, know if they have enough money to affored one, if they have enough land, if the neighboors dont mind one being there ect. I know (atleast i think) you do need to get a slip that says you can own one.

the wild also offers some other things to consider: No shelter from elements (climate/habitat depending) no medical care, danger from other animals, danger from humans, danger from diseases..

YYYep....that's why they call it the wild...that'd also be is why Nature made the creatures that live in it, so well adapted to it. Nothing you point out above is unnatural, or fear provoking to a wild thing. The wild, is not "great"...it simply "is".

ORIGINAL: rwbeagles

the wild also offers some other things to consider: No shelter from elements (climate/habitat depending) no medical care, danger from other animals, danger from humans, danger from diseases..

YYYep....that's why they call it the wild...that'd also be is why Nature made the creatures that live in it, so well adapted to it.  Nothing you point out above is unnatural, or fear provoking to a wild thing. The wild, is not "great"...it simply "is".

I so agree with you Gina.

It's called the facts of life for something to live something must die. I rather see them out in the wild running free then in a life in a cage with meals on schedules. We don't even have the right enviorment that these animals thrive in and we expect these guys to just adapt to our enviorment like Tigers or lions.  If you love these wild cats go help a sanctuary donate your money them to force another wild animal to live in a cage.

So why don't we just live in a cage as well there is diseases that kill us, people kill us, auto accidents, drugs, and danger from some animals attacking us. Sure we have shelter and medical care, but there are so many ways we can die once we go out of your homes. It's the same thing for wild animals something is just going to kill you someday.

That's my two cents on wild extoic animals.

I rather a wolf, bear, lion, Tiger, and etc live their life out in the wild then to be stuck in a cage.

ORIGINAL: k.m.a

Gina, the wild is great. However, the wild also offers some other things to consider: No shelter from elements (climate/habitat depending) no medical care, danger from other animals, danger from humans, danger from diseases..

Yes, those animals look happy.
Are you trying to tell me the ones Aery and I posted don't?

 
That is why lions, elephants and gazelle are made for africa, and polar bears artic wolf and huskies are all made for the arctic. They are made for the climates. Danger from other animals all comes from the territory. We as humans try to stop things like this for no reason, the food chain is the food chain no need to worry over it. Gazelles are for lions to eat, nothing eats a lion (Except for some large cats that can kill it) its all the food chain, sad but thats life.
 
Same as how i buy fish and feed them to my turtle, those fish have no chance whats o ever. oh well.

I don't know a whole lot about exotic animals that have been raised in captivity for generations. I only know that my hare was taken from the wild so young that I don't think he remembers it. I hand-raised him and he still grew up to be a wild hare with all the needs of a wild hare. I don't know that generations in captivity can make up for thousands of years of evolution in the wild. I know that reptiles born and raised in captivity from captive parents still need demanding care.

What I'm trying to get across with my stories of Kit is that there's happy and then there's happier. There's basic care and enrichment, and then there's a natural life with everything provided. Kit gets enrichment, too. He loves to sit in front of windows and watch the world go by. He likes to chew on cardboard and dig at things. I do what I can for him, but I'd far rather see him stretching those achingly beautiful legs of his and flying through the bush than loping around my house with the sole purpose of finding somewhere nice to lie. I'd rather see him dig himself a nice little form to rest in the sun than stretching out on his favourite blankie or flumping himself on my pillow to look out the window. Yes, he's happy, yes, he's very well cared for, yes he's safe and will live a long life, but as his surrogate mother, I just feel like I want more than that for him. I would love to see him boxing other hares and finding a mate and growing huge and handling every situation that comes his way with ease because he's free to run as far as he likes. If I'd known it would be like this, I would have taken care to raise him for release rather than as a pet. He's the love of my life and the closest thing I've ever had to a child, so I don't say this lightly.

At this point, setting him free would not be setting him free because he'd find it very difficult to adapt to everything he'd encounter out there. So we're stuck in this not-quite-perfect world. When I see wild hares out in the bush, though, I feel sad that it's not Kit. I guess that's the essence of the problem I have with exotic pets. It just... seems like a stunted existence when compared to the same animal out in the wild. Maybe I'm wrong and I'm just idealising the fallacy of wild 'freedom', but to me, the sadness I feel when I see a wild hare and know that Kit is at home hanging out in his cage is truth.

I guess, if you can keep them happy and not think that in keeping them happy you're denying them a higher degree of happiness, then maybe it's not such a big deal. I just find it difficult to believe that a wild animal can be complete in captivity. I spent a long time trying to convince myself that Kit was perfectly happy in every way, as happy as he could be, maybe happier, but in the end, I knew it wasn't true. It was very hard to face that truth, and I wouldn't blame anyone who loved their exotic pet for refusing to see it if it's there.

Again, I never asked anyone to completely change their minds. Just to understand that these animals are not being tortured. And that most of the grudge should ie with those who buy from roadside sellers and do not take care of their animals.

It's not realistic to say that every animal in captivity considered wild would be happier in the wild. Most of them would die within a few weeks. So, regardless of what they how, how long they've been bred and domestically kept is a bigger issue than the ethics of keeping them. And they will be kept, regardless of welfare views, as long as good owners take the proper measures.
Some people do not believe that fish and birds should be kept as pets, even some dogs, but you rarely see big debates on them. Because it's just natural to see them in a household. For exotic pet owners, it's natural to see people with pets that are unorthodox to most, and that is the biggest reason why people disagree with them...because it's not common, not something you see everyday, so it is automatically assumed that the owner has no idea what they are doing.

When I was caracal-owned, five children lived next door. They often came over to watch him and even pet and play with him under my strict supervision. He loved to play fetch with a favourite toy and bring it back to the kids. They got a kick out of it, and learned about the differences between tame and trained, domestic and captively bred/owned, and "wild" vs wild. They understood better than most adults why people keep these animals. They also understood that they could not run home to their mothers and ask them for one. One of them wrote me a few days ago...he has plans to work in helping these animals that have been taken from their abusive and uneducated owners.

If you look closely, some sanctuaries are, in a sense, a home, with people, and their "pets" that they interact with. Animals owned by people since bottlefeeding age form a bond. To go from having someone there, to nothing at all, would cause a ton of stress for them. It's a lot different from what they are used to.

But again, and probably finally, I'm not trying to bash anyone's views. Just trying to make people understand that not all of these owners are selfish, neglectful, or crazy.

I think that a lot that we do in our lives is actually due to selfishness.  We want something and we may just get it.  But it doesn't mean you are going to be neglectful or bad necessarily.
 
The animal pictures above are so gorgeous.  And it is easy to see why we want to possess such beautiful animals.  But obviously it would not be so easy to care for such lovely creatures.
 
There are laws to keep such animals safe from would be owners that would be neglectful, perhaps not on purpose but just by virtue of the animal's actual needs.  I think in order to be a good owner of any creature the animals needs ought to be provided for.  They need stimulation, companionship of thier own kind, places to run and play-- where they would be safe.
 
If you have a unique home and ability to care for such animals, that is amazing.  But I sure do not want to see it become common place.  I believe that most animals belong in the wild.  And as Mudpuppy said, there is far more to domesticating an animal than it simply being raised by humans for a couple generations.  And if it is done with exacting domestic behaviors over time, is that really an unselfish thing to do? 

ORIGINAL: rwbeagles

What I notice is a lot of excuses being given to demean the dignity of something that has no business being in anyone's home for reasons other than educational.
 
If you want to own a wild animal...then by all means do so...but please be honest...it is because YOU want to...not because the animal wants to and would choose to live with you or even BE around you without some pretty serious altering of it's "natural" mindset and set of survival skills handed it by nature.
 
The idea of keeping it so they can easily view it and feel it "loves" them...is really...IMO not love of wildlife...it's possessive behavior.
 
Them's my last words on the topic...and no amount of website linkage or excuse making will alter my view.

Well, let's face it, I don't think anyone on here dislikes dogs but owns them out of a sense of obligation.  We all have pets because WE like having them around, which would qualify as selfish.

Personally, I don't think that some kind of wild cat with a large outdoor enclosure, a loving home, and knowledgeable people is any worse off than say, a horse that is kept in a stall except to be riden and groomed.

It is however,....worse off than it's comparable wild  brother, because it is confined in an unnatural setting.
Cannot say the same about the feral dog or cat...can you?
 
I never said it was or wasn't selfish..I said it was possessive behavior.
 
As to the people saying the exotic big cats and such would "die in the wild"...yeah...but they are only available at all in capitivity, to suit your demand. Again...no different as someone else pointed out...than "liberating" a puppy mill pet store pup.
 
Butfor people's wishes to own them...the animals would not even 'be' in the situation to begin with.