The "Wolf Dog" Issue

We have the same issues in Australia with dingoes and dingo hybrids. Dingoes don't have such a strong pack instinct and are generally more independent, but they're still a wild animal in my opinion. There's a lot of contention about whether they were ever domesticated, but the fact of it is they are very difficult to motivate, very destructive in a domestic setting, and have such a strong prey drive you they become a different animal the moment something small enough to be fair game shows up.

It's just not right to deliberately put wild animals in a domestic situation for all the reasons everyone has already mentioned. And I feel the same way about exotic pets. They'd all be better off in the wild where they are meant to be. I have my own wild pet, who I obtained reluctantly and by accident when I found him in distress and in danger of dying. He's a hare and being a feral animal in Australia, no one would have rasied him, so I did. I love him to bits, but he's a dreadful pet and I would never recommend one. I shudder to think what might have happened to him in less sensitive hands. If I'd known what the hell I was doing, I would have put him with a rabbit right from the start to at least try to teach him how to be a hare. But I didn't know it wouldn't all come naturally and now I've got a partially tame animal who can't relate well to anyone, has no idea what kind of animal he is, and would be totally lost and vulnerable in the wild.

If I wasn't sure about this issue before him, I'm sure about it now. It's great for people to be there for wild or hybrid animals when they're in need of care, but I believe they will always be better off with their own kind in the wild. There's a difference between an animal that has been living alongside humans for hundreds or thousands of years and an animal that has been living far removed from humans the whole time. We have no right to force a wild animal into our lifestyle on a whim, no matter how gently we try to do it.