Exotic pet trade 🤨

[JAL57]

So I was scrolling through cute cat posts on Instagram when all of a sudden Meta decided to cough up a post that was not like the others. It was a morally reprehensible video by some brain-dead vanity case who had a) bought an African serval, and b) filmed herself taunting it with a vacuum cleaner that clearly freaked the cat out.

What is wrong with some humans? These people should not be within a mile of any vulnerable animal, much less an exploited exotic cat that belongs in a sanctuary. I swear, these people probably did not want to adopt one of many shelter cats in need because the choice to get a pet was all about making a personal fashion statement and becoming Instagram famous.

We need stricter laws to protect exotic animals from self-absorbed loons who think getting a pet is like buying a rare and expensive handbag.

 

[silent meowlook]

Absolutely disgusting. There must be stricter laws that are enforced and harsher sentences for these pathetic wastes of oxygen.

 

[denice]

Ohio tightened up their laws on exotics about 10 or 12 years ago after a tragedy. A man in Central Ohio, not close to Columbus but a much more rural area in this part of Ohio had a number of large cats. He let them loose then committed suicide. He obviously had mental issues but he also got into trouble the way a lot of people who try to keep large cats get into trouble he was financially strapped. Big cats are very expensive, even just to feed them is a large expense. Then you get into keeping enclosures repaired so that they can safely keep them contained. Special vets are needed and the vet has to come to the cats, can't just put them in a carrier and take them to the vet.

 

[game misconduct]

sad reality is that if there is a demand and money to be made a human will sell/exploit it for profits etc

 

[JAL57]

sad reality is that if there is a demand and money to be made a human will sell/exploit it for profits etc

The same is true of declawing, unfortunately. That’s why we need lawmakers to step in if the market is incentivizing something that is dangerous and/or clearly not right.

 

[mani]

Australia has strict laws on exotic pets, and my state (Queensland) has the most strict.
A lot of it is to stop the animals from spreading into the wild and upsetting the fragile balance we have here(you cannot own rabbits, ferrets etc).
But it does prevent people from owning 'designer pets'.. the people who just want to be different and don't really care about the animal itself.

And JAL57 , declawing has been illegal here for a long time.

 

[silent meowlook]

I remember the guy in Ohio. I think it was more like 20 years ago if it was the same one. It was horrible and a tragic y and the police department basically went big game hunting, but Jack Hannah said it was all okay. Disgusting. Many of those big cats were shot in their cages. Never should have been allowed to happen.

The average human cannot properly care for a 10lb feline, how could they care for anything more. But it all about profit.

 

[IndyJones]

Declawing is legal where I am but defenatly discouraged unless its a last resort. Landlords may require it though as part of a contract, I don't agree with this personaly.

Anyways, people who keep wild animals as pets are disgusting. Anyone remember Travis the chimp? He went wild and attacked a woman's face. Killed for being a chimp in an inapropriate enviornment.

 

[catapault]

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my, are not house pets. Alaskan sled dogs are not house pets. Shall we wonder, back in the long ago times, what people were saying about their neighbors bringing wild dogs into the house. And how about the Russian foxes that were relatively recently bred for friendliness. Actually changed their appearance too.

Several decades ago I got a skunk kit in a pet store. That was in Pittsburgh. Probably born on a fur farm. He was wild when we brought him home but eventually - I would never call him domesticated but he became tame. Could bring him to the pre-school story hour at the library, where children would cluster around to ooh and aah and pet him.

Did I enjoy having him? Yes. Would I get another one? Probably not. Besides, I think they are currently illegal in New Jersey.

 

[fionasmom]

Declawing in illegal in Los Angeles and much of the west coast cities of CA like San Francisco and Berkeley.

Another famous case was Moe, a chimp in 2005, in West Covina, California. He bit a woman's finger off, but was relocated to a sanctuary where the story becomes an even bigger mess.

 

[denice]

Declawing isn't illegal here but it has definitely become something that is no longer acceptable. Years ago it wasn't just acceptable it was seen as something that was part of routine care no more. Probably 20 or 25 years ago many apartments required that cats be declawed but I haven't seen it in a very long time. I don't know if the law changed or it is a result of declawing no longer being acceptable.

 

[silent meowlook]

I remember that horrible chimp attack story. Such a brutal attack.

 

[denice]

After the woman had her face ripped off by the chimp a number of years ago Animal Planet had some shows about similar incidents. I remember one where a couple found a sanctuary for their chimp but they still went to visit. The man was attacked and it was brutal with some nasty permanent injuries. It's the same story with the Chimps as with the Big Cats. When they are babies they are cute, loving and fully controllable. They grow up, mature and they are no longer safe to be in a private home with people who are not professionals at safely caring for these animals.

 

[fionasmom]

The man was attacked and it was brutal with some nasty permanent injuries.

I think this is the same story that originated in CA near me.

 

[fionasmom]

Jack Hannah said it was all okay. Disgusting.

He now has extremely severe Alzheimer's to the point where he recognizes no one. I always found him to be a slippery character and felt that a lot of the allegations against him were probably founded.