The Pros And Cons Of Petting Zoos

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Animals by nature are meant to be in the wild. This is their natural habitat where they roam freely, reproduce naturally, and eat habitually. There are many instances in which the relationship between exotic animals and a human end up with an injury or a fatality. For example. in Texas a four-year-old is mauled by a mountain lion his aunt kept as a pet, in Connecticut a 55-year-old woman’s face permanently disfigured by her friend’s lifelong pet chimpanzee, and in Nebraska a 34-year-old man strangled to death by his pet snake. These are just the smallest of signs showing exotic animals should not be domesticated. All of these owners thought their relationship with the animals were stable, but the fact is these animals are wild and unpredictable. …show more content…

An E. coli outbreak even happened in North Carolina. In 2004, 187 people who attended the North Carolina State Fair became ill with E. coli infections. “15 with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication of E. coli infection that can lead to kidney failure, central nervous system impairment, and death” (Noah 8). In response to the E. coli outbreak, Duke University’s Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy issued an analysis report regarding government regulation of petting zoos.
Most emerging infectious diseases today are zoonotic; zoonosis is a disease that can be transmitted from animals to people or, more specifically, a disease that normally exists in animals but that can infect humans. Approximately 60% of all human pathogens are zoonotic. The animals that can transfer these diseases do not even have to be the wildest of them. It can be simply goats, sheeps, pigs, cats, and dogs who transfer these fatal diseases which can cause …show more content…

An invasive species that can do just that. One has appeared in Florida’s Everglades National Park, and it is the Burmese python. This python is native to southeast Asia, but has somehow made it’s way across the Atlantic ocean into the United State’s backyard. “The guy in my headlights is already bigger than any other snake in North America, yet it's a mere pipsqueak by its own standards. It may live 25 years and reach 20 feet in length. It can achieve the girth of a telephone pole; it can dine on full-grown deer” (McGrath 4.) Likewise, Western species pop up in the East. The red-eared slider turtle, native to the Mississippi Basin, has been shipped all over the world as a pet and for food. The turtle is spreading across Asia and southern Europe, devouring native frogs, mollusks, and even birds. This shows how devastating a non-native species can be to the environment all for the simple fact that someone wanted it as a

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