Pros And Cons Of Keeping Exotic Animals As Pets

Should Exotic Animals Be Kept as Pets?

Keeping wild animals as pets has been a recent topic of debate. Who wouldn’t think it was spectacular to keep a big cat as your own? As a child, everyone all loved going to the zoo to admire all of the exotic animals. However, there are various cons to keeping wild animals as pets. Exotic animals should not be kept as pets for numerous reasons. They should not be kept as pets because it goes against their rights, it is not safe, and they are going extinct.

Animals have feelings and rights, just like any other living organism on the earth. “Today most people who once wondered or doubted whether animals really could have emotions have discovered that animals indeed have many of the same kinds of emotions that humans have (Mack 33).” Whenever taking a wild animal from its natural habitat, that is stressful enough for them.

Then, during the capturing process, they get tossed and turned around in confined spaces up for hours at a time, moreover adding mounds of distress to the animal.
Countless people keep exotic animals as pets as a social status, but before they receive them, the animals go through a very long, and stressful trading process.

Adding these enormous amounts of distress on any animal is bound to cause them to lash out. The animals are stripped away from their home, tossed around in confined places, and then brought into a strange environment. These things add much distress to the animal. Exotic animal pet trade goes against all of their rights; even though people love the idea of keeping exotic animals as pets, it is not good for them nor is it safe.

“Exotic animals do not make good companions. They require special care, housing, diet, and maintenance that the average person cannot provide. When in the hands of private individuals the animals suffer due to poor care. They also pose safety and health risks to their possessors and any person coming into contact with them. (Born Free USA- The Dangers of Keeping Exotic "Pets").” Animals from the Wild are bound to lash out at any time, not only would they attack their owners, but also can hurt

others.
Animals from the wild spread diseases that are deadly to humans. Some of the different diseases that animals carry is the Ebola virus, Salmonellosis, Herpes-B virus, and many other fatal ones. Even if these are just a few simple reasons why it is not safe, it has a significant part not only to the animals, also to humans. Nevertheless, not only does their incapability of them not being stable make it dangerous, but also animals from the wild also bring deadly diseases into our environment and a lot of harm towards humans, and for our safety, we should not bring animals from the wild into our homes.
Part of the excitement of keeping exotic animals comes from the fact that many of them are on the endangered list. Humans feel that by keeping them in a “structured” environment, they are helping their chances of multiplying. While in fact, they are increasing their chances of becoming extinct. By keeping them in individuals’ homes, the animals are not allowed to mate and reproduce as they would in the wild. As our world population has increased the need for more homes and human habitat has caused us to encroach upon the habitat of the exotic animals. The loss of habitat and resources for these animals causes the population to decrease also.
Exotic animals are interesting to watch and study. We can learn much about their habits and behaviors. People want to keep them as pets for many reasons. They may feel it is a status symbol or just fun. Keeping them as pets is just not in animals best interests. These animals can be dangerous. They carry diseases and are often animals that are on the brink of extinction. People should think twice before trying to keep one as a pet.