Should People Be Allowed To Keep Exotic Animals

Born Free USA has tracked 2,682 incidents in the United States involving exotic pets since 1990, and this is only a partial list since they can only track incidents that they hear through media reporting (“Exotic Animal Incidents”). Due to people keeping exotic animals as pets, humans and exotic animals are suffering unnecessary injuries and death. Although some people believe that exotic pets are wonderful companions to own, it should be illegal to keep exotic animals as pets because exotic pets pose potential threat to the safety of their owners and the public, are dangerous to human health, and are treated improperly. First thing to remember is exotic animals pose threat to the safety of their owners and the public. According to

Some exotic pets live in poor conditions that does not duplicate their habitat, which includes pens that are too small and lack adequate shelter from the elements (“Our Exotic Animal Investigation”). As a result, the owners are not allowing the animals to express behaviors that are normal for their species. The animals can also get ill from lack the lack of shelter from the elements. By failing to meet the specific environmental and behavioral needs of their pets, the owner are treating their exotic pets inappropriately. Similarly, some exotic animals are treated cruelly by their owners. They had their claws and teeth surgically removed in order to make them less dangerous (“Our Exotic Animal Investigation”). Since claws and teeth are part of the exotic animals that have helped their species survive in the wild, it is improper to have them surgically removed. The owners should not own any exotic pets if they thought claws and teeth on exotic animals were dangerous. In 2012, a 38 year old man in Florida was accused of stabbing a pet python 19 times and leaving a knife in the animal as it died (“Exotic Animal Incident Report”). This shows just how cruel some owners can be to their exotic pets. It is morally wrong for the owners of the animals to treat their pets cruelly. By making the exotic animals live in poor conditions that does not duplicate their habitat and treating them cruelly, owners are treating their exotic pets