Wild Animals as Pets - Comments

Wild animals shouldn't be pets, period. But, I think that you went very wrong when you said keep them in zoos. People never look past the smoke and mirrors of the zoos, zoos are just as much if not more of a prison then a pet owner's back yard. I actually don't think any animal should be considered a pet or called as so, even domestic cats and dogs. Why is their life worth any less than yours? Imagine how insulted you become when someone calls you a pet, I know I become very insulted. I have a kitten, her name is Kiki, and she is my companion and friend and a member of the family, she will never be considered or called a pet.

I dont know if this counts, but people here have pet dingos.

I don't think you can really learn THAT much about exotic animals at zoos... They're all locked up and aren't really like the exotic animals that roam the Earth. O.o

Maybe it's because i know no one who is keeping wild animal as pet, or it's just that i live in a country which can't give you many examples of such people, but: i can't believe it! I know there are such people, but anytime i think about it i can't believe it. Its nonsense. There's no any logic at all in keeping a wild animal as a pet. Like, if you are keeping a pet of any kind, you should love it, apparently. And if you love your tiger, why are you tormenting him/her?

Same goes with birds. Actually, birds are the only wild animals I've seen in cages. Nothing to say about it.. just please, free your loved birds. They are not happy, no matter how much they're singing.

I feel really mean doing this but I have a few points to make.

I think you have a point but I doubt a teenager living in the western world is going to go out and buy a tiger cub one day. Maybe you could have mentioned poachers and that buying monkeys and such overseas is supporting such an awful business.

Also, you shouldn't just have talked about tigers and animals that could potentially harm you. What about orangutans, monkeys, birds and even bear cubs who are sold on the black market by poachers who killed their mothers? And then are kept in cages for their whole lives? Many are neglected and abused horribly. You needed to make more of a point about the animals rights too.

Also you're alligator example was a bit flawed. That you shouldn't own an alligator because you might get hit by some kind of natural disaster? By that reasoning people should never have a family or buy a house and such.

Oh and a wild animal isn't just an animal who can kill you. A wild animal is an animal that does not live in captivity. That means birds, kangaroos, elephants, zebras, whatever.

Sorry, I'm very opinionated about animal rights.

For some exotic pets you need a license and so on.
I think it's fine to have exotic snakes so long as they're not from the wild directily but bred in captivity.

Even bred in captivity exotic animals, like big cats for example can still kill, no matter how bonded they are to their keepers.

I love you.
:cheese:
I've always thought people with exotic and wild pets are sick.
I was so happy to see someone wrote an article on it, hopefully this way more people will realize how dangerous, irresponsible and unnecessary have exotic pets is.

Exotic animals such as turtles and snakes may have been bred in captivity but still have the necessary instincts to survive in wild, it takes a few good generations to wear them off and even now most cats and dogs can survive in the wild if forced to.

There's a bit of a difference between a snake that's never seen its natural home and was bred and raised in captivity and a tiger. Even if you raise wild cats yourself, they're still hunters, they're still going to be on you at the first sign of weakness. So that means no illness, no babies, no accidental injuries, no getting old...

It's an amazing thing to have the trust of an animal like that, but they're never going to be tame, and they're never going to be safe.

@onewaytogo- wild animal rescues are fine! because you're helping them, i've rescues loads of wild animals XD just as long as you release them when they're better
i don't thik its right to keep tigers and such unless they walk in your house haha
xxx

I don't believe in animals in cages either.

Though I've always wanted a pet tiger, like the one in Aladdin =)

What about wild animal rescues?

I agree with Kurtni Parlo, when an animal is usually bred in captivity, it may never be ready for the dangers of the wild. Horses for instance (since I have 6) are very dangerous and can kill you in seconds. Not necesserily are ALL exotic animals dangerous either, some snakes are quite harmless but do bite. Turtles certainly are not fatal, dogfish, chinchillas, ect. Ofcouse I agree that you should never take a wild animal out of its habitat unless nessisery like they are hurt.

Wait a minute.. i think you've missed the point here..

'you shouldn't keep wild pets as animals because they're a danger to your FAMILY'

To be honest with you, anyone who keeps an Aligator as a pet is taking a fairly dynamic role in natural selection, and, if it eats their kids, don't worry because the average IQ of the world just went up a point.

No but seriously ; the issue here isn't how dangerous they are, but how immoral it is to take an animal that usually lives in the relatively unrestricted region of their natural habitat and then remove them to your backyard. Humans are stupid and i'm tired.

Gabe

zoos arent all that great either inmy opinion...=/ but whatever.
i still want a dingo thou xC

While I agree with you that WILD animals should not be kept as pets, I disagree with how you used the term wild and exotic interchangeably when they mean two different things.

I have two turtles, both of which are exotic animals. They were never wild, however, because they were bred in captivity, and they certainly aren't dangerous. The same can be said for people who keep fish, frogs, hermit crabs or snakes as pets. Taking a wild animal from it's natural environment is rather cruel, but I don't see a problem with keeping captive bred animals as pets. You mentioned dogs and cats in your article, and that's the exact same principle. At one time, they were wild animals too, however we began to breed them in captivity, so I don't see how you can be ok with cats and dogs as pets, but not other captive bred animals.