Exotic Animals Are Dangerous
Exotic animals kill and injure people each year, and are very dangerous in the wrong conditions. The animals are kept in housing that doesn’t suit them, and are kept away from the other animals in its family. They aren’t fed their natural foods, don’t have proper sleeping conditions, and don’t have enough space. Exotic animals are animals that most people think shouldn't be kept because of a few reasons: they are dangerous, they need proper housing, and they aren’t very expensive to get, but are expensive to keep.
Exotic Animals are Dangerous
Exotic animals are dangerous, and can even be deadly. Out of the 1600 attacks by these animals, 75 of them have resulted in a human being killed (“Live”). Not only are these animals dangerous to humans, but keeping them as pets is dangerous to them aswell. Across the country, privately-held exotic animals held have escaped from their enclosures and have attacked humans and other animals — with sometimes fatal results (“Born”). Having exotic animals as pets, means taking them out of the wild, and having less in the wild. There are almost 7,000 known tigers being kept as pets (“Born”). That is over double the amount of tigers in the wild, listed at 3,200, being an all time low (“Live”). Most exotic animals also carry diseases, that can be harmful to humans. Many exotic animals are carriers of zoonotic diseases, such as Herpes B, Monkey Pox, and Salmonellosis, all of which are communicable to humans (“Born”). An estimated 90 percent of all reptiles carry and shed salmonella in their feces. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 93,000 salmonella cases caused by exposure to reptiles are reported each year in the United States. As many as 90 percent ...
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...Exotics as Pets
It’s pretty obvious that exotic animals would make bad pets. The main three reasons they would are: they can kill and injure humans, humans can’t give them proper housing, and they are too easy to obtain. The animals have done enough harm to humans, and humans have done enough harm to them. Exotic pets arent even banned in some states where attacks have happened. People need to stand up, and get exotic animals banned from being pets!
Works Cited
BornFreeUSA. "Get The Facts:." The Dangers of Keeping Exotic “Pets”. Born Free USA, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
Livescience. "Owning Wild Animals: Stats on Exotic Pets (Infographic)." LiveScience.com. Livescience, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
PAWS. "Exotic Animals." PAWS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
Toto, Christian. "Exotic Pets: Permits Differby State and Locality." Ebsco Host. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
Should exotic snakes or other large reptiles be allowed as pets in Florida? Right now these escaped/released feral reptiles create an estimated $120 billion in environmental damage each year according to David Steen on Slates Animal Blog.
...ress it causes for the animal not only the captivity, but also in the capture process. There are many health risks for the animal and it rips them away from their family. These animals are so amazing, but as you can see, it is better for them to stay in their environment with family and not be put on display.
Kukol, Zuzana. "Let People Own Exotic Animals." USA Today 21 Oct. 2011, Opposing View sec.: n. pag. Middle Search Plus. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. .
Do you think that keeping exotic animals as pets should be legal? Well, I think that owning exotic animals as pets should be illegal. First, safety is a main concern for both the animals and for people. Secondly, it cost a very large amount of money to properly care for these animals; money people usually don’t have by themselves. Finally, it is against the law in many places to own these animals. Exotic animals should not be kept as pets.
Animals are not only bred inside laboratories, but also obtained from special dealers, animal shelters, and directly from the wild. Dogs and cats are usually obtained from Class A or B dealers. Class A dealers specialize in selling purpose-bred animals, or animals bred specifically for experimentation. Class B dealers buy animals at auctions, through newspaper ads, or animal shelters, and then sell them to laboratories. Animals acquired from shelters is known as “pound seizure”.1 In the United States, there are no federal laws prohibiting pound seizure, but Washington D.C. and 18 states have banned it.2 Shelters were built to provide animals a safe, warm, and loving home; not to provide laboratories with more test subjects. Animals such as monkeys, chimpanzees, mice, rats, and birds are taken from the wild in Asia, South America, and Africa to be used as test subjects in the United States.3 No scientist would enjoy being taken from their home and family to be subjected to cruel and painful tests, so why is it acceptable to do this to wild animals? There seems to be no limit to when, where, and how these animals can be obtained. Now is the time to step forward and draw the line.
Throughout the world, wild cats, reptiles and primates live peacefully in their natural habitats. Despite this, every year more and more of these exotic animals are becoming domestic pets. Keeping exotic animals as pets is unsafe and should therefore be made illegal. They pose a risk of injury, disease and invasion of the natural environment. Some people believe that keeping a pet does not pose a risk if properly kept and trained.
Exotic pets are dying because they are escaping from their cages and being killed by authorities. They are also dying because they are committing suicide on themselves, this can happen when the animal gets so stressed of their daily life in a cage, there have been cases when animals hit themselves on the head using their cages wall. People buying exotic animals are not only affecting the animal (Pet) but are also affecting other animals in the wild. The food chains are collapsing, if an animal eats the animal that is barely in the wild because of people using them as exotic pets that wild animal might die because of the lack of food and and so on, therefore depopulating ecosystems. In the end, this is a serious matter of animals going endangered and extinct that needs a solution.
"98 Important Facts About . . .Animal Cruelty." . N.p., 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 13 May 2014. .
First and foremost, it has a large impact on the wild populations. Not all exotic pets are captive bred, meaning they were taken from the wild. This reduces population sizes and genetic variation (Bush et. al 2014). In fact, if the animals are in high enough demand, it can actually cause extinction. For instance, the Great Auk was once a very common species in Iceland and Canada. It was used for everything from meat to down pillows. When populations began to decline due to the
Imagine wanting not a puppy, but a tiger for your birthday, imagine the expenses of owning that tiger and the dangers and hazards of owning that tiger. Do you really think it’s a good idea to get that tiger? No, it’s not a question. It’s a lot of work, and it’s also very dangerous. Exotic animals are not good to buy and have.
Animals not only experience cruelty from their caretakers, but from visitors as well. As a result of this, the abuse can cause psychological damage and varies from the animals being teased, yelled at and having objects thrown at them (OccupyTheory, 2015, List of Cons of Zoos, para. 4). Animals that are restricted to zoo living arrangements show a great deal of abnormal behaviors as well as mental health issues. For example, animals in captivity easily become lonely and bored when deprived of their natural necessities. Due to stressful living situations, many animals begin to show signs of a psychological condition known as zoochosis, a repetitive and multiple obsessive behavior (Netivist 2016, Cons of Zoos, para. 2). Some symptoms of repetitive and obsessive behaviors that have are common include, but not limited to self-mutilation, pacing up and down or rocking back and forth (Isacat, 2015, Chapter.8). According to the database on the animal advocacy organization, Born Free USA website (http://www.bornfreeusa.org/reports/exoincidents.php) there is over 1300 recorded incidents of "deadly and dangerous captive wild animal incidents" that have occurred since 1990 (ResearchBuzz, 2010). One of the most recent incidents involved Harambe, a western lowland gorilla that lived in the Cincinnati Zoo. Animal psychological and former head of Zoo Atlanta, Terry Maple stated, "Its difficult to say whether
Using animals in live entertainment facilities is unethical and inhumane. Even if one does not care about animals, concern for human life might matter. Exotic animals are dangerous to the public. Exotic and potentially dangerous animals and humans were never meant to be in close quarters with each other. Recently, a woman leaned closer to a polar bear in a zoo and was attacked. (Animal Planet 2008) Despite the fact that the bear was significantly larger than the woman, the bear may have felt threatened. The bear was not in its natural surroundings and that, coupled with the woman invading his space, created a situation where the bear felt threatened. These are not domesticated animals, like a dog, who is used to being around humans. Despite years of training, animals can instinctively react to the invasion of their space by a human. Their instinct is to protect themselves, which might include attacking and killing a human. Sadly, such an act by the animal, would typically result in the animal being put to death. Animals can...
However, zoos and aquariums reflect responsibility to help and promote animal conservation and protection. Without them, many may have never gotten the chance to see exotic animals such as tigers, elephants, or giraffes up close to examine and learn about their nature. Without zoos, almost all of the best observational, behavioral, biological, or genetically based research on several diverse species would have not been possible. And, without zoos and the help of fundamental captive breeding and reintroduction programs with...
It is said that in order to protect the wildlife, we need to be educated about the wildlife that inhabits our planet. As humans, and the superior species on Earth, we put exotic animals, aquatic and terrestrial, in zoos or aquariums where people can go to see them to learn more about them in order to protect them. It just so happens that by putting these animals into captivity, we are causing more damage to them, just as damage is occurring in the wild and more species are becoming extinct. Animals should not be held in captivity; it does not save them from going extinct, but helps kill them off.
The reasons that animals are held in captivity could favor some people and others not. Animals in captivity are usually held for entertainment, education, research, and conservation purposes. The other major reason they are held in captive is the process of rehabilitation. The article, Ethical Issues, defines rehabilitation as the treatment of wild animals found injured or ill, taken into captivity until restored to full health and then returned to the wild. Then when the animal is released they are then able to live freely in their own habitat. Although this may lead to suffering and stress or even death for the animal. The animal is so dependent on their caretaker that once they are put into the wild they do poorly (1).