Should Exotic Animals Be Kept In Captivity As Pets Essay

Certain states in America have banned the keeping of exotics animals in captivity as pets. Despite that regulations have been set nationwide, millions of exotic animals are kept as pets in the United States (“Ten Fast Facts”). There have been repeated documentations focusing on these exotic pets and the dangers that are involved. The animals, owners, and people near are endangered when these animals are taken from their natural habitat and kept in captivity as a house pet. Exotic animals should not be kept in captivity as pets because animals are meant to care for themselves in specific appropriate environments. Humans cannot always care for these exotic pets properly for many reasons such as cost and lack of knowledge. Wild and untamed animals can act unpredictably and may carry diseases, putting the humans exposed to these animals in harm's way. Stricter regulations should be set throughout the United States.

Exotic animals are brought into homes as pets in different ways. Some animals are occasionally taken from their natural environment. They may have also originally been in captivity at a zoo. Exotic animals are also sold either in auction, pet stores, or possibly from a

Undomesticated creatures may carry diseases that humans, especially children as susceptible to. Today, doctors often offer advice to help prevent the transmission of diseases when children are vulnerable to nontraditional pets (Pickering, et al.). Zoonoses are diseases that humans can obtain from being exposed to animals; the diseases can be bacteria, viruses, or parasites (Hoyle). One of the most well known zoonotic disease cases in the United States is the monkeypox. Gambian giant rats were sold in pet trade and infected prairie dogs. The prairie dogs were then sold as pets and transmitted the disease to the owners. This disease spread along the Midwest; there were eighty-one confirmed cases in 2003