# Public safety, animal welfare trump pleasure of exotic pets



## EricWI (Sep 3, 2012)

Guess who?





> *Public safety, animal welfare trump pleasure of exotic pets*
> 
> Last week, a Brazilian man was caught trying to smuggle 27 snakes wrapped in nylon hose and stashed inside stereo speakers, checked as luggage, at Orlando International Airport. He allegedly admitted that he planned to breed them for the pet trade.
> Days earlier, a 17.5-foot-long Burmese python was captured in the Everglades, probably at one time a pet that had been dumped or escaped.
> ...


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## Kiel (Aug 20, 2009)

I'll go ahead and point out the obvious.

_Days earlier, a 17.5-foot-long Burmese python was captured in the __Everglades__, probably at one time a pet that had been dumped or escaped.
_*Probably? Or it could be one of the hundreds that escaped. Thought it was pretty clear by now that the majority of animals causing problems in the everglades were the result of a hurricane trashing someone's business premises?
*








_In July, a baby in Illinois was found with a python — believed to be a neighbor's escaped pet — biting and contracting around his foot as he slept in his crib._
*And pet cats, dogs, hamsters even never do anything to harm people, right? Irrisponsible owners will always be irresponsible, regardless of the animal. I wouldn't say that on the whole reptile owners are any more or less careless with their animals than the people that keep 'normal' pets.*

_As someone who works in human medicine, it is both my job and my desire to keep people as healthy as possible. I am not against alcohol, driving cars or using cellphones. Put together, however, these things are a seriously bad mix and need to be, and are, widely opposed, restricted and banned._
*Anyone else not understand the analogy? He's comparing apples to oranges. *

_As a biologist, I am not against sharing one's life with companion animals such as dogs and cats. Like most people, though, I am opposed to any abuse toward them, and if dogs and cats suffered simply because they lived with us, then I would be opposed to keeping domesticated companion animals. Who wants a companion to suffer?_
*Um...Duh?*

_So how does this link to keeping and trading in exotic pets like fish, amphibians, reptiles and primates?
Unfortunately, in my experience with human and animal health, as well as wider issues of ecology, species conservation and even economics, harm is inherent and almost universal in exotic pet keeping. What is abnormal, derided and a prosecutable abuse of a dog, such as keeping him or her almost constantly locked up in a small kennel, is normal "care" for an exotic pet, whose life will almost certainly be spent in a wooden and glass box, wire cage or aquarium._
*Again, apples and oranges. Notice he doesn't mention people keeping rodents, Rats, Mice, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits or guinnea pigs in his examples? All of which are routinely kept 'caged'. They NEED that 'box' to provide the heat, UV, security that they require.*

_Ironically, if exotic-pet keepers saw a small dog or a cat imprisoned in a fish tank with a light bulb for warmth and some crickets as food, then they, too, would recognize the outrageous dearth of even basic humane provisions and view the treatment and the animal's life as nothing less than abusive and cruel._
*Because they don't need to be. Apples and oranges again. It serves no purpose to keep cats or dogs in the incorrect environment with the wrong food. Schrodinger would also beg to differ *

_So why don't exotic pet sellers and keepers see the harm in much of what they do? Most reptile keepers I know are passionate about their hobby, but their level of biological knowledge is, frankly, appalling. Too many so-called herpetologists, for example, typically lack relevant training or qualifications, yet refer to themselves as animal experts after work.
It is predictable, then, that what follows is animal stress, disease and death; a recent scientific analysis conducted in the U.K. shows that three-quarters of all pet reptiles die in their first year in the home — and that excludes the heavy trade-related losses that are known to be around 70 percent within just six weeks._
*The report that has already been shown to be entirely inaccurate and not at all scientific? Good job.*

_The physical, behavioral and environmental evidence of stress among captive exotics is common, but few traders and general keepers can identify captivity stress for fish, amphibians and reptiles, although the signs are there — at least 30 captivity-stress signs in reptiles alone.
_








*We get threads about this every day. Why isn't my bearded dragon eating, why is its' beard all black, why doesn't my leo poo. We're aware of the stress signs and rather than shutting it away, surely it's better to have a public forum to discuss these issues, not people keeping quiet for fear of having their pets taken away?
*
_I cannot recall the number of times I have been challenged to visit a zoo reptile house or some so-called expert's proud collection and asked to point out the stress, only to leave behind a trail of managers with various expressions of concern, surprise and embarrassment_
*Without seeing ALL of them, without giving specifics this is impossible to take as quality information.*

_Almost weekly now, independent scientific and medical evidence is emerging that reveals the depth of the problems associated with exotic pet trading and keeping. Based on the evidence, communities around the world are realizing that the only meaningful action is to ban the commercial trade and, in some cases, also keeping._
*Who checked this? The grammar is horriffic for an article that is expected to be taken seriously. I'd also love to see all of these scientific reports.*

_Curtailing profit and people's fancies inevitably draws criticism and complaints, but public health and safety, animal welfare and species and environmental protection easily outweigh the habit of keeping wild animals where they do not belong, do not thrive and, more often than not, die prematurely and badly._
*Again, a massive amount of conjecture. Evidence for the health and safety risks in particular (previously my line of work) would be amazing.
*


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