Wild Animals As Pets

[Euphoria]

I was outraged the other day. I was home the other morning and while typing an assignment I turned on the TV and Ricki Lake was, the show of the day was "Pet Obssessions" (or something like that). Anyway I was disgusted by the animals some of these people "owned".
One guy had a wild cat, which he kept on a leash and had domisticated. I can't remember the name of the cat, but it's found in South Africa and is small, slim, has big ears and is very pretty. He also had, a wild fox from the Middle East. I was outraged at this.
I woman on the show had endangered lizards for pets, as well as a rare breed of turtle.

Living in Australia, were there is a huge black market smuggling trade I was devasted. I remember being so disgusted when I found out that a friend's aunt who lived in Canada, kept Australian sugar gliders. More than 90% of birds and animals smuggled in tubes and other inhumane transportation, die horrible deaths.

I, personally, don't believe that any wild animal should be made to live in "civilization" (well that's what we think we are) or cages, hence my hate of zoos.

Just wanted to know what you all thought about this horrible practice.

[Flower]

It saddens me, too. There's a wildlife sanctuary an hour away from me that gives home to wild animals that wouldn't be able to survive in the wild due to illness or injury. They have a puma that lives there that was kept as a "pet". The person who had the cat had him declawed and now he has bad hips because of bad caretaking, too. :(

[Euphoria]

It saddens me, too. There's a wildlife sanctuary an hour away from me that gives home to wild animals that wouldn't be able to survive in the wild due to illness or injury. They have a puma that lives there that was kept as a "pet". The person who had the cat had him declawed and now he has bad hips because of bad caretaking, too. :(

That's so sad. I think that the only time a wild animal should be kept in captivity is if they cannot survive in the wild. A friend of mine has a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, who has all her toes sort of molded together, and thus wouldn't be able to eat properly in the wild. She's cool. She just wadles all round the garden :D

[Pip]

Hmm, that guy with the wild cat may be in for a nasty surprise when he finds out they can never really be tame.I was watching Animal Precinct a couple weeks ago (the Texas based one) and they were explaining how it isn't illegal to have tigers, bears, and other wild critters as "pets". They showed quite a few animals who had been horribly abused b/c the owners just didn't know how to properly take care of them, and didn't know what they were getting into. :furious: It's almost like a status symbol of sorts, to "own" a wild animal.

[Erin_S2S]

In the majority of situations, I am against it, but I can't say all.
At the vet the other day, I saw a little girl (7 yrs old or so) cradling a young raccoon in her arms. The little creature was quite talkative.
It was in a towel, but its hands were free. I thought maybe her family had rescued it as an orphan, but they hadn't. It was bought in a pet store. That irritated me to no end. The girl couldn't remember the name of the pet store and I didn't see her parents. I wish I'd have brought it up to the vet.

[Euphoria]

In the majority of situations, I am against it, but I can't say all.
My only exceptions are:
1. If the animal cannot survive in the wild due to a deformity etc
2. They are being rescued, but WILL be released back into the wild. Like the Orangutang Orphanage in Borneo I gave money to. They rescue orphans and care for them until they're old enough and then release them.

No other wild animals should be kept in captivity.

[kpickell]

I agree. I get very upset when I hear about the animal swap meets that they hold in our area. My aunt called us up the other day to brag about the fox she purchased for $100 at the animal swap meet. We just shook our head in shame. She doesn't care for the fifty animals she already has and is now getting a wild animal to throw in the bunch.

[Strix]

And then when they grow up (like big cats, for example) they're not so cute and cuddly and end up chained or tossed. :(

[ninypants5]

This is so horrible... I saw a show on Animal Planet the other day about this rescue place called "Shimbala", or something, that houses wild animals (big cats, elephants etc.). I didn't see the beginning, but I think the lady who runs it is an old actress and Melanie Griffith was on it (I think she's friends w/the lady).

Anyhoo... a lot of the animals were rescued from ppl who had them as pets. There was a black leaopard that a guy had as a "gaurd cat". He just kept him in a tiny cage all the time. When they rescued him, the pads of his feet were completely worn away from waking in his own feces all the time. And he hates everyone accept this one woman... he doesn't like anyone else near his cage. It was so sad :(

They also showed that a lot of big cats are caught, brought into the woods, then let free so these stupid ppl can hunt them. They had actual footage of one of these events...it was a black cat (either a leaopard or a panther, I'm not sure) and he was in this tiny cage going crazy. Then they let him out, he ran for like 2 seconds then this whole herd of dogs were on top him and someone shot him... It was so bad, I cried :cry:

But on a lighter note, the rescue place looked really nice and huge. And all of the animals seemed happy and comfortable :)

[ninypants5]

I agree. I get very upset when I hear about the animal swap meets that they hold in our area.

An animal swap meet?? I have never heard of such a thing! What goes on there? Is it legal, or is it a black market sort of thing? Is this in the US?

[kpickell]

An animal swap meet?? I have never heard of such a thing! What goes on there? Is it legal, or is it a black market sort of thing? Is this in the US?

Yes, in the US. It must be legal because they advertise in the newspaper and it's on their cities calendar of events. Basically it's people selling all different types of animals, but the main money comes from the sale of exotic animals. I remember going to it once when I was younger with my mom and my aunt. It was interesting seeing all the different animals as a kid, but it was mostly just sad seeing them stuffed in small cages with no cover from them sun. The fox my aunt bought was $100. She's bought less exotic animals from there in the past... ducks, a pony, a goat, a pig, etc, but no she doesn't live on a farm, just an animal collector.
http://www.nccvb.org/Attract/WSM.htm

[ninypants5]

Oh that's just wrong.

That's all.

Just plain wrong.

[VeggiTash]

Here in the UK there was an undercover program on dreadful petshops. They filmed one place where the man claimed he could get any animal. So the undercover presenter asked him to get a lion for them.

He did.

It cost £1000 (that's cheap for a lion..!) He asked no questions about where it was going or anything. Sick huh. What could anyone possibly do with a pet lion?? :mad:

What are your opinions of a hand-reared animal?
I'm currently hand-rearing a baby rat which would otherwise have died without my help (there aren't any mother rats in my area to take it in). IF she survives and grows up, I wouldn't be able to release her, because she'd die. All she knows is regular meals and warm bedding. I know this would be keeping a wild animal in captivity, but I see no problem with keeping her, as it's in her best interests (I'm not keeping her for the sake of having a pet rat).

[Flower]

I don't see any problem with hand rearing an animal and keeping it if they would not be able to survive in the wild. It can be extremely hard if not impossible to be able to rehabilitate an animal to live in the wild.

However, those animal swap meets anger me greatly. That's just so wrong. :down:

[Euphoria]

I can't believe that animal swap meet!!! That's just awful. We have a huge exhibition here, called Pet Expo, but that's just cats and dogs and fish, and maybe turtles, but no exotic animals.
They should be shut down!

The rescue place, sounds really good. It's just a shame those animals can't be rehabilitated to live back in the wild.

The ppl who "own" these exotic animals should be at least taught proper care and undergo a special test to check they can look after them and that they have the room to look after them. Although I still think that the keeping of exotic animals should be criminilized.

[Robert]

I saw this show on TV about poisonous snakes in the US, and they mentioned the cost of anti-venom production and how only certain types of venom are available.

Then they mentioned that some guy in Florida had illegally obtained a King Cobra, and for whatever reason, had released it into the local area. So, the anti-venom folks were worried that if this snake bit someone, that they'd not have the proper anti-venom on hand. (Makes me wonder if this person could be possibly charged with murder if someone actually dies as a result of the snake he released biting them)

Apparently there have been several poisonous snake species that have made it in, and released into the wild, so the anti-venom folks were trying to obtain and stock anti-venom for numerous types snakes, both known and suspected to be in the wild now.