CHIMPS IN THE KITCHEN, TIGERS IN THE YARD
Stephanie Bergholtz
March 16th 2011
Fatal Attractions
Like many of you, I grew up with a great interest in animals of all shape and size. As a small child, around 10 or so, I used to cover up my pet dog Shadow with blankets if I were cold, because if I was cold I figured, so should she. If I painted my nails a nice pink color, I would paint Shadow’s nails pink because if I wanted my hand to look pretty then obviously Shadow would want her paw to look just as pretty as my hand. Shadow, being the amazingly patient dog that she was, would just lay there under the blanket for as long she could take before she overheated and would then run away from. She was considerably less patient for the nail painting. It only took about 2 minutes before she would try to escape. I used to tell her beauty was pain and she would just have to deal with it, this worked for another 30 seconds before she went running out of my room.
I distinctly remember asking my mother for a pet lion when I was about the same age, she told me no. I was upset for about ten minutes before I got over it and started terrorizing poor Shadow. Could you imagine trying to cover up a lion with a blanket when it was cold out or painting a lion’s nails?! I have a feeling the lion would not have been as accepting as my beloved Shadow.
Thanks to animal planet’s Fatal Attractions, I have learned about some interesting people who obviously never got over the fact that their mothers denied their request for a wild animal. There have been people with pet tigers, lions, bears (oh my), chimpanzees, alligators, monitor lizards, venomous snakes, elephants, buffalo and the list goes on and on. In every case, the “owner” is convinced that the animal will never harm them; that their love for each other is too strong.
How do you think most of these episodes end? The owner is mauled by/trampled by their “pet”. It seems that love truly is not enough. People try to put emotions on animals all the time but the truth is we have no idea what they are thinking, what they are feeling. I’m the first to admit that I put emotions on animals. I go to the zoo and see a pair of penguins huddling together and think “awww they must be in love!” There was even a summer where I spent at least one day at the NEW Zoo each week and spent half the time at a polar bear exhibit. I seriously felt a close bond with the bear but never have I thought; gee I should bring Bob the polar bear home with me.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is this: if you love wild animals, do you love them enough to respect that they need a lot more than any one person can give them? Do you love them enough to let them live out their life in the wild? Do you love them enough to respect their natural instincts and give them the space they deserve?
The majority of people would answer yes to this, which begs the question: why do so many people have exotic pets? Do they sincerely think they can be domesticated? Is it this perception that animals feel the same emotions as people that drive the owners of wild animals to treat tigers as they would domestic cats?
For more information, albeit overly dramatic (this is a cable show after all) go to: http://animal.discovery.com/tv/fatal-attractions/
Not convinced getting an exotic pet is a bad idea? Make sure your state allows you to own one of these potentially dangerous animals. For some bizarre pet laws check out http://animal.discovery.com/tv/fatal-attractions/5-exotic-pet-laws.html
5 comments:
When you say exotic pets towards the end, are you meaning only the dangerous ones? I feel that there are many other pets that are exotic that arent dangerous. The beta fish for example or a parrot. I dont see many of these animals roaming this country, but they could also be considered exotics. I know it is a fine line between what could be exotic or dangerous but I feel it should be drawn.
I also feel that there are many types of exotic pets. I have a skink as an example... not a typical pet for most people. But it is not dangerous and so I think that a distinction should be made between dangerous exotic pets and harmless exotic pets.
I believe that there is a bit of a fascination factor that plays a role in peoples' interest in exotic pets. For example, I think foxes are a really interesting. They are beautiful animals that remind me of a mix between a dog and a cat. I've always thought that having one as a pet would be awesome, but of course, I know the risks of wild pets and wouldn't want to remove one from it's natural environment. I understand a fox isn't exactly exotic here in Wisconsin, but it is an unusual pet. The perceived mystery and unusual nature of animals makes people want them more... like the "I can't have it so I want it more" attitude.
Recently, I discovered that foxes are bred domestically and some states legally allow them as pets. This begs the question: just because it is legal, does it make it ok? In this case, maybe because they are essentially domesticated, but I need to do more research. In other cases where the animals can be very dangerous, I believe the answer is still no, leave the animals in their natural environment!
I really enjoyed this personalized post, Stephanie. I love my pets, and I also agree with you about respecting the needs of wild animals. Nice job.
I guess in retrospect the word exotic was a poor choice. I think my mind was stuck on the big cats and chimps when I was writing this. They seem to be the animals of choice when it comes to people who live and cities and buy animals on the black market to be pets.
Yes some animals such as your skink are more willing to accept human contact and be domesticated. Much like our dogs that are a big part of our society (and an even bigger part of MY life) were breed down from wolves. I think these people need to realize that you just can't domesticate some animals, the prey drive is just too much! Living in a cage under the supervision of someone who doesnt understand all the animal requires is no way to live.
Sara as far as the domesticated foxes go, I did read the national geographic article. It was initially an experiment to find the "domesticated" gene. It was really quite fascinating to find how they had breed the human friendly foxes and after just a few generations they began to exhibit a more white coat like the horse and cow and droopy ears just like domesticated dogs.
Whether its right or not, thats up to your beliefs I guess. Would I have been the first to start this project? Probably not, I would have studied something about their there behavior. Do I think its interesting? Absolutely!
I definitely agree with this post. I think even though someone may be completely in love with a certain animal there is still the need to respect it. I've seen the show you mentioned, "Fatal Attractions", and it is interesting how much trust some of the owners put in these animals and even after they are attacked they still believe the wild animal would make a good pet if treated differently. Its also interesting to look into the past as to how many exotic species have become problems in areas from being released after the owners realized they could not handle raising the animal.
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