Persuasive Essay On Keeping Exotic Pets

Owning exotic animals is both cruel to the animal its self and dangerous to those who care for the animals. Keeping exotic animals as pets is cruel. In the article Do You Really Want a Baby Tiger? by Mia Lewis the author states “The end result is that far too many of these exotic animals spend almost their entire lives in the ‘prison’ of a small cage.” Obviously, exotic animals are meant to be in environments that promote their natural behavior; forcing these animals to be locked up in a small pen

Owning wild exotic animals is more of a hobby than actually caring for them. Taking animals out of the wild and housing them is unfair. These animals depend on the naturalistic environments to strive and stay healthy. In the wild the animals have natural instincts, but when removed they are at a loss. They put into a stressed induced life where, they feel trapped and scared, while also losing their natural instincts. Even if the owner takes great care of them it is unfair and inhumane; this should not be indorsed in any way.

While domesticated pets like dogs and cats make good pets many people want to own exotic animals that belong in the wild. These animals range from tigers to pythons, but should not be owned as they need special care most people cannot provide. Not only this, but exotic animals release is harmful for everyone, the exotic animal, humans, and native animals. Lastly, many exotic animals carry diseases that are harmless to them, but fatal to humans. Exotic “pets” are harmful for everyone, not just the pet. This is why people should not be able to own exotic pets.

“Those who wish to pet and baby wild animals "love" them. But those who respect their natures and wish to let them live normal lives, love them more,” (Teale). This quote shows that people who keep wild animals as pets do not realize that the native environment provides the wild animals with the necessities they cannot receive as a pet. Permits should not be given to people to own wild and exotic animals as pets because it is inhumane and dangerous.

The lethargic lion sits in his puny pen. Stuck in his cage, nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and nowhere to escape. He waits only to be improperly fed by his “owner.” Millions and millions of exotic animals are traded every year. Captured from their wild habitat, bred, and sent to millions of families across the world, only to be neglected and not treated properly. Exotic animals are taken each year to be a family’s new “pet.” Not only do these animals suffer from captivity; they also suffer from abandonment. People take in their new exotic animals for their looks, only to find out the work that comes from these majestic creatures. I believe exotic animals should not be kept as pets. Some may argue that if you have any pets, you are supporting exotic animal ownership, though this is not true. Keeping the animals in captivity causes the animals to die young from fatal illnesses, and exotic animals spread deadly diseases to humans.

Danger, danger! Animals are cute, but not all are domesticated to own as pets. Dogs are a man’s best friend, people suggest cats are an old lonely lady’s answer to everything, and everyone has a dream to own a tiger or lion. However, people should not be allowed to own exotic animals as pets. Owning exotic animals can cause an endangerment to the animal, an endangerment to the owner, and an endangerment to the community.

How many people think it is okay to have an exotic animal as a pet? People do not care about the responsibilities that come with owning an exotic pet when they get a wild animal. There are many positives and negatives regarding owning exotic pets, but the negatives outweigh the positives greatly. Keeping these animals in captivity is not only harmful to others but harmful to the animal. When treated as pets these animals grow into adults and act aggressively to others around them, spread diseases, and enclosures cost a great amount and have to be created by professionals the majority of the time.

To begin with, exotic animals should be banned from society because they are unpredictable. People tend to not want exotic animals due to their natural and wild instincts. One may never be able to predict a wild animal’s next move because “a wild animal is never one hundred percent predictable” (Lewis 41-42). This implies that these dangerous pets can make any wrong move at any time because these animal have not been domesticated. Also, one may keep them in a cage due to “exotic animals can injure

Some people feel they should be allowed to keep exotic animals as they think they are capable of taking care for the animals.

Exotic animals belong in the wild because the reason they are exotic is because they cannot be tamed like any other pet, and if they can’t be tamed, they can become a harm to the owner and to others that the animal feel threatened by. Injury and possibly death is likely to happen under such circumstances of the animals being neglected. Another reason why I believe that exotic animals do not belong under human captivity as pets is because it is harmful to the pets and the nature of them. Some animals need their families to survive and they also need to learn to hunt in order for them to survive. Once an exotic animal becomes the pet of someone, it becomes dependent which is unhealthy for the animal, especially if they are brought under captivity at such an early age. Owning exotic animals as keeping them as pets should be illegal is what I believe is right.

In most places owning a dog or cat is second nature, but what about a tiger, bear or maybe python? Exotic pet ownership is far from having a clear right or wrong answer but it is in need of a ban for both the protection of animal and owner.For exotic pet owners, owning a wild beast insures a sense of power and uniqueness. It is also their way of contributing to the conservation of a species by having a “backup population” once human population growth and habitat destruction has resulted in extinction (Slater 113). But in reality the ownership of wild animals as pets only helps to damage already fragile ecosystems, both the one from which they came from and the new one in which they find themselves. Animals in captivity are also stripped of a natural life in the wild, free of confinement and unsuitable care. Finally, the risk to humans is very large, injuries inflicted from exotic pets are dangerous and possibly deadly. Bans vary from state to state, ranging from no ban to partial ban to complete ban, but even in states with full bans, exotic pet ownership still occurs. Private ownership of an exotic animal as a pet should be banned in the US, due to disruptions in ecosystems, the dangers that wild animals are exposed too, and the risks to the owners of these pets.

The question of humanity arises every couple of years, on the topic - should exotic animals be allowed to be kept as pets. Is it humane for the beings who feel pain, give birth, take care of their young like human beings do to be behind bars? According to the National Geographic 66 percent of wild animals are owned privately while the 28 percent of the animals reside in the zoo. Some of the exotic animals can be found as pets rather than in the wild. The estimated number of Tigers kept as pets are between 5,000 and 7,000, which is more than the ones that exist in the wild. Interested buyers can purchase a tiger cheaper than some of the purebred dogs, for the price as shocking as 300 dollars. Though some states in the United States do allow wild animals as pets, it is still illegal in most states or require a license for it. Most of the animals as pets are through illegal routes like underground auctions and smuggling.

While many people think that animals are safe at zoos and privately owned farms it's far from the truth. In 2011, nearly 50 animals died when their owner left open their cages before he shot himself. Eighteen tigers, seventeen African lions, six black bears, two grizzly bears, two wolves, and a baboon were killed by police officers who deemed the animals to be a danger to the community (Wild at Home). Instances like these show that private owners don’t put their animals’ well-being first. Exotic animals like chimpanzees and tigers shouldn’t be kept as pets because many of them suffer due to the substandard care that is given to them by private owners, many of them pose a threat not only to their owners but to their community, and many of them carry multiple diseases that are transmittable to humans.

There are thousands privately owned lions across the U.S., and between 5,000 and 7,000 tigers—more than exist in the wild. Many dangerous primates and bears are also kept as pets, and even the occasional elephant.

Every child has asked their parents for a pet animal. The thing is though, is what type of animal they asked for. Such as a dog or cat and even the occasional hippopotamus for Christmas, right? Lots of people buy exotic animals not knowing how much work it really takes to take care of them. For example, many people have bought pythons and when they get to a size where they can’t keep care of them they let them go into the wild. Exotic animals are very costly and time consuming, they grow up and get bigger and all in all they are very dangerous.