Censorship Of Exotic Pets

When someone hears the term “household pet” immediate animals come to mind such as dog, cat, even fish. As a pre-vet pre-med student I know that many also consider more exotic animals to be categorized under this term. Animals such as snakes, lizards, and ferrets are seen but this extends to even more exotic and wild animals such as the lion, tiger, and leopard. I also knew that many of these large cats that were kept as pets were endangered in the wild; however my interest in conservation truly began when I happened across a solemn article. This article described the truth about the tiger’s state of existence, explaining that there were more of these cats in the backyards and basements of the United States then there were left in their

This review details that for almost all large cats there are international laws that prohibit sale and movement across country borders regardless of the animals status (dead or alive), but these rules do not include the trade or transport of large cats within a country. It prioritizes the lack of regulations within the United States by introducing a news story where a “private zoo” owner released all of his legally owned exotic animals, including at least 30 unregistered large cats, into the public before committing suicide. The cause for this was a court charge of animal abuse and endangerment. I began to think that most private owners did not carte for the conditions these animals were in, and that due to there being no federal regulation on these cats, they would continue to let animals suffer and put the public in danger. That being said the article still hints that private ownership may be good for the species as some owners may be attempting to aid in conservation. This did not change the authors thought though that there should be an overall ban on owing these animals; a viewpoint that I did not share. I did begin to wonder though if there was more to private owners then just to have these animals as

During my research I came across a thesis done during a wave in the year 2005. This thesis is out of date in information but has not been used as a reference in much regarding the United States. The author of this article does portray a contrasted view of many private owners of exotics in the United States, then many of the conservation articles pushed by the WWF and other sanctuaries. Jessica Beetz, the author, classified the term private owner for her research as someone who owns an exotic animal and is not associated with an accredited sanctuary or endorsed zoo. She found during her research the majority of private owners were not interested in the black-market profits but were more interested in the conservation of the species that they owned, but some were less honest in their statements. Those that were interested in aiding conservation did so by donating to protection funds, educating the surrounding community about the exotic species, and even participating with reintroduction plans. These points that Beetz brought up made me realize that despite what many foundations may say, not all people who own these animals did so for malicious reasons. Her thesis also made me realize that there are many different classes of private owners in the United States and this should be accounted for in any regulations that are put into