Why exotic pets are bad

Accessed December American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Position Statements on Exotic Animals as Pets.

Accessed August American Veterinary Medical Association. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthy Pets, Healthy People. Ecological Society of America. Exotic pets can become pests with risk of invasion. June MacDonald J. May Mitchell S. National Humane Educational Society. Exotic Pet Trade. Peeples L. December ; Updated December Last accessed March Rettner R. Exotic Pets Are Dangerous to Health. October Related Posts.

Sometimes well-meaning people bring wild animals to PAWS after they have illegally kept the animals for a period of time. This occurs when someone is not aware of wildlife rehabilitation or the law, and is just trying to help a wild animal in distress.

Regardless of how long you have been caring for the animal, it is best to take him to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator right away. The sooner the animal can be evaluated and given the proper care by experienced, professional personnel, the greater the chance the animal may be returned to the wild. Please enjoy this video from Jackson Galaxy, a well-known cat behaviorist and host of How much will it cost to care for a new animal companion? It is illegal to provide rehabilitation to a sick, injured or orphaned wild animal without proper permits and licenses.

It is illegal to possess potentially dangerous wild exotic animals , such as monkeys, bears, tigers and venomous snakes. Read more about exotic animals. If you do not live in Washington State, check with the agency responsible for managing wildlife in your state to learn about current laws.

Habituation Habituation is a process by which animals gradually get used to situations they would normally avoid. They retain their natural instincts and may be unpredictable, while inflicting serious injury or transmitting harmful diseases. There have been numerous incidences of exotic pet attacks around the world, resulting in serious human injury or death.

In some cases, exotic pets released into the wild have established free-living populations that cause havoc among native wildlife. Legal restrictions on the trade and keeping of exotic pets vary significantly by country. Some countries have regional or national legislation governing the trade and keeping of wild animals as pets, while others have little or no specific legislation. In Great Britain, certain species considered to pose a risk to the public require a licence to be privately kept under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act However, legal protections for animals and people vary greatly around the world and may be absent or extremely weak.