Introducing: Exotic of the Week

I’m going to run a feature for a while that covers exotic animals. Once a week I will be choosing a different exotic to cover. Many people are familiar with dogs and cats but are unfamiliar with the needs of other animals. I’m doing this because it’s beneficial to break out of your comfort zone and read information regarding other species. It offers a way to compare things and get experience. It’s taken for granted that exotic animal owners know what they are doing. Owning an animal, even for a long time, does NOT automatically make a person an expert.

This is also the section where I expect the most debate. See, I don’t believe in keeping most exotics as pets. Rescuing and rehoming is okay but capturing, breeding or buying these animals is not.

What?! I’m sure some people think.

Ethically I am against them because I feel that one of the biggest components of animal welfare is animal husbandry. To keep most exotic species in the average home many compromises are made in the animal’s care. For example, animals are kept in pens far too small, on incorrect substrates or are fed diets incorrect for their species simply because nothing better is available or cat and dog food is considered good enough. Most people get these animals for the “wrong” reasons and the animals end up in rescue (if they manage to survive the poor care that long!) or languishing away. Not enough information is available on many of these species to keep the care at an adequate level even in the most well-intentioned home. Often times the resources are just too much to keep these animals; for example the needs of prairie dogs include a social structure and environment that humans are simply unable to provide in a home environment.

I am against them because wild animals do not belong in a home environment. There is no reason that a wild animal should be forced to live in substandard conditions for the sake of a person owning one. Most make horrible pets. The ones that make “great” pets often show frustrated behaviors because they are not able to do the most basic things in their natural routine. Yes even “captive bred” wild animals are still wild. Domestication is a process that takes hundreds of years, and involves breeding the best and most friendly animals.

Speaking of breeding, let’s look at the sources of where they come from. Many types of animals are wild-caught directly, or bred from wild-caught imports. Some of them are harvested as babies, such as the black-tailed prairie dog in which captive-breeding efforts have been unsuccessful. The ones that can be captive bred are often kept in mill-type conditions. Exotics are often inbred (not linebred, there is a difference in the care taken) because there aren’t enough of them and the people who bred them show no more regard to their choosing than puppy-millers. They take whatever pairs they can get, related or not. Many of these breeding animals are kept in cramped cages. They are typically sold online, in flea markets and in other places without permits of any sort. There are no fall-backs to ensure adequate care; anyone with a male and female can breed. Unlike dog and cat breeders where there is a general consensus of what makes a responsible breeder many people are so desperate for whatever rare animal they have in mind any breeder is a “good” breeder.

The biggest danger to exotic animals is the internet. There are people all over who consider themselves experts due to reading care sheets or being a regular on forums on the net. These people often correct “ignorant” folk and replace bad information with “educated” info that is just as bad. Often these people have “kept X for many years without problems!” “Problems” seems to be defined by the notion that an animal got severely sick or died as a result. Most people don’t count signs of stress, neurological behavior or shortened lifespan. They don’t count minor health problems, and since wild-animals are genetically programmed to hide pain, the real problems often go unnoticed. Since most people seem to think education just means looking up how everyone else does it, misinformation soon becomes norm and the animals suffer.

Many of the people that own exotics genuinely love their “pets” and can’t imagine life without them. Is this enough reason to allow the continuation of cruelty that goes on to continue the pet trade? Is the “responsible” “best that can be provided” substandard care enough to justify the sourcing and treatment of these animals? If 2% are well-cared for is that enough to allow the other 98% to exist in captivity? I personally don’t believe so. I feel that permits should be required for keeping exotics and that licensing and basic competency exams should be part of that. If you really DO love a species then you should be willing to jump through hoops to keep it and do what you can to protect it.

This week there is no featured animal because I didn’t want it to get buried. You are free to agree or disagree, please just be respectful and think out your comments.

A note: this section is written assuming that the species in question is legal where it is being kept, understanding that this not only varies from state to state but from county to county.

Genet picture (c) L Dawson from Wikipedia

I support the stance of the HSUS