Keeping Dangerous Animals As Pets

This is only a generalization, but people are more cautious about snakes and other reptiles and bugs, but if an animal has fur they are going to try to treat it like a stuffed toy, although it is not. People who really want to be kind to animals do not try to raise them especially not in the city.

People also think their goldfish love them. Luckily they can do not damage.

I think you have a point about the "furry animal syndrome" ... well, that is what I am going to call it anyway. I agree that people do want to treat furry animals like stuffed toys. They do it with the larger animals like bears and cougars, the medium animals like bobcats (who are actually extremely dangerous but people tend to underestimate them based on their size and relative similarity to large house cats), and small animals like squirrels and raccoons. While any individual animal of one of these species could be a wonderful and loving pet, especially if it has been rescued as a baby like some of them are, overall these animals are dangerous ... yes, even the small squirrels and raccoons are dangerous ... and people should not try to bring them into their homes and try to make them family pets. Of course, that is just my opinion, but I really think that people should do a lot more research and put a lot more thought into these things before they act. The thing that surprises me, though, is that some people have convinced themselves that they have a "bond" with their reptiles as well. I know people that think that their snakes have formed an emotional attachment to them, recognize them, care about them, etc. Then, they are surprised when the snake or other reptile acts on its natural instinct and bites them or tries to strangle them, etc. I am not a reptile expert, but from all that I have seen and read, reptiles do not form emotional attachments ... most not even with their offspring ... so why would a person think that they would be an exception?

I definitely think that many people do not think it through and realize what the long-term implications might be when they decide to get a dangerous animal as a pet not only in terms of the animal itself but also in terms of how their circumstances may change over time, such as having a baby in the house or having to move, etc. When they are faced with these issues, I think that some people panic and make the wrong choice by releasing the animal into the wild, even though they might think they are doing the "right thing", because once again they do not think through the long-term consequences of their decision. You have brought up a great example of non-native species being released into the wild and having adverse effects on the ecosystem, even if the animal is not really considered a "dangerous" species. That is also a very real problem in many countries, and the governments have even done this and caused some of these problems themselves. I actually think that I might do a separate discussion on that issue, because it is a good topic for discussion in itself.

Yeah, I have seen shows on this sort of thing ... the government imports a non-native animal into a region to target a certain issue, and the animal ends up creating more of a problem than the original issue that it was meant to solve. I think that governments should definitely do long-term studies on these things before implementing these plans, especially since they are ultimately the ones that are supposed to be responsible for the health, safety and well-being of the people in the area, but it seems they are no more responsible than the pet owners that do not think about the consequences before getting a dangerous pet.

I agree people should not have these animals as pets.

You see! I can't really come out with any 'sane' reasons why would any decent household or person want to keep these extremely dangerous animals as pet where there are many domesticated one available for adoption from animals shelter or can be bought from pet shop, except the owner has personal nefarious purposes in mind. Only a government funded private research instituion or government lab should have the privilege to hold these animals in captivity for scientifc research purposes only, not every John or Jane from the street, these animals are just not make as pet for any household, except to live in wilderness and jungle with their naturally evolved special feature in them.

Unfortunately, there are actually some pet shops that are allowed to sell these dangerous animals ... at least the venomous snakes and lizards as well as some of the spiders. The reputable ones keep records, but there are some that are not as honest and reputable, and I think that is where most of the danger lies. I know that Florida (and I would assume other states as well) try to monitor the sale and handling of these creatures, but I also think that more needs to be done before the problems that we are having now become any worse. I also know some places that allow large cats to be bred and sold to private owners. Again, they try to keep track of it, but there are too many instances where they obviously are not as aware as they should be, and this is brought to light when "accidents" happen that could and/or should have been avoided if proper care were being taken.

You have raised a good point that I had not even thought about - the fact that some people might intentionally use these animals to endanger the lives of others without having to take responsibility for it themselves. I guess that I never thought about people intentionally letting them loose hoping that they would harm someone, because I would never do that. I have always thought that the ones that let them loose were overwhelmed and possibly felt in danger with the animals in their possession and did not think through the long-term consequences that letting them free might pose to society but were more focused on the immediate threat that they felt to themselves or their families. Your point has raised an even stronger case for either not allowing people to own these pets or insisting that people who are allowed to have these animals be licensed and monitored to ensure that all the animals are accounted for until the animals (and their offspring, if any) die.

I agree that people who are allowed to keep these sorts of pets should have to go through some kind of training and be certified or something to ensure that they know how to properly care for the animals. Still, there are some things that are out of our control no matter how much care we take, such as natural disasters, and that sort of thing can put people in danger if the animals are able to escape during a tornado or something like that. On the other hand, I can also understand why there might be certain circumstances where having these pets is in the best interest of society, such as people that milk snakes and spiders for their venom to produce and anti-venom in case of bites, so I am not really sure that there is a "right" answer. I guess that it depends upon the situation and trying to prevent as many risks as possible.

I completely agree with the whole letting wild animals remain where they belong - in the wild. The only good exceptions that I can think of is when they are injured or orphaned and taking them in would mean that they could live rather than die in the wild. Also, there have been instances when populations of animals, such as wolves, have been put on a preserve to build up their numbers when they have neared extinction in an area. I think that is different, however, because they are not treated as pets and they are not intended to be there permanently ... well, at least not the future generations.

@rebelann We were taught to only kill for food or in an extreme case of self-defense. The stupid trophy hunters are doing neither, and I think that they should be put in jail, but that is just my opinion.

Yes exactly @purplealabaster those Wildlife Sanctuaries are responsible for reinstating the wolf after US trophy hunters had slaughtered all of them in the wild and now Yellowstone Park is beginning to look beautiful again, trouble is those d a mn trophy hunters keep lobbying for the right to kill for sport, I wish the laws would treat those Aholes as murderers, they do much more harm than good.

@ramapo17 Oh my, I would think that if I was his father, I would have preferred one of those horrid neckties over an alligator, even if it was a baby one. I am sure that your husband probably did not think about how much they grow and how dangerous they can become, though, especially since he was still so young when he did it.

Poor alligator, it's always a shame when people give wild animals as pets.

@rebelann my husband was just out of high school and he thought everything was funny. His mother should have put her foot down the minute it came in the house.

@purplealabaster That could have been a disaster if something had happened while they were procrastinating.

@purplealabaster Well at least the owner had time to find a proper home for him.

There are laws in some states, but I found that the law either is not enforced (if there is one) or is not consistently enforced. It took forever for a neighboring community to get the town to make a guy get rid of his "exotic" cats, and he was located directly across the street from a daycare center.

Yes, I have seen the shows on these channels as well, and that is partly what inspired this discussion. There is a really serious problem in several of the Southern states with pythons. Now it seems that boas are also appearing in the wild, and both species have been confirmed to be reproducing in the wild not just being released by irresponsible pet owners, although they do believe that some of the ones that are now reproducing in the wild might have been released by irresponsible pet owners. They also think some might have escaped from captivity rather than being set free while others were able to get free during some of the bad storms that have hit here the past several years.

It is not just in my town - it seems to be happening in a lot of places cross the US. Maybe this is not such a problem in other countries, but I suspect that there are still some problems with this sort of thing in at least some other countries as people tend to have a fascination with dangerous creatures. Besides, I am pretty sure that I have seen news stories about incidents in Australia, Cananda and the UK to name a few, although there might not be as much of in issue there as there seems to be here. I do think that more people need to start thinking about this sort of thing, and I definitely feel this issue needs to be addressed, although I am not entirely sure what steps should be taken. That is what inspired me to start this discussion, because I wanted to hear what other people thought and what solutions they might come up with.

I also think that people should be educated in the care and handling of the animals that they have as pets ... and I am not just talking about the ones that we normally think of as dangerous. I agree about the dogs, although statistically there are actually more bites from small breed dogs than the larger breeds - the larger breeds tend to do more damage as they are bigger and stronger, which is why they are viewed as more of a threat. A horse is another good example. Many horses are docile, but they can still be very dangerous and people have been killed by them, even when the horse did not mean to harm the person. I actually really like the wolf hybrids, but I also understand your concerns. In some places it is illegal to own one or you need a special license to be able to have one, and I think that is a good thing. I have a few friends that have had them, and they were great animals, but my friends also knew how to care for them. It is the same thing with taking in an animal that has been abandoned and/or abused, if you do not know how to care for the animal, then you could be putting yourself, your family and even the animal's health and safety at risk.

I do know that there are some animals that do become attached to humans, especially if they are raised from babies with the human. Still, you are right that sometimes the natural instinct takes over, and they might not even mean to hurt the person, but they might just get a little too rough while playing and seriously injure someone. They might not mean it, but that does not repair the damage that they can do, though. Then there are the animals like the spiders, snakes and reptiles. It does not matter how long you have them or when you got them, because they will never form a bond with a human no matter how much the human might hope they they will. I do not even understand why someone would want an animal like that as a pet, because there is no bond that forms, which is normally why a person has a pet. On the other hand, I do know that animal control officers and other professionals often have dangerous animals as pets. This sort-of makes sense, because it is their job to know how to properly handle and care for these animals. They sometimes take them in rather than kill them when the animals are not native to the area and cannot be released back into the wild but they don't want to kill them, either.

The thing is that they are not all illegal. They might be illegal in some areas, but they are not necessarily illegal in others. On top of that, it is difficult for law enforcement or other government agencies to enforce the laws where they are illegal, especially when they are obtained through illegal methods.

@inertia4 I wish that they would at least work on ways of better monitoring and regulating these animals. In too many cases, they do not even properly monitor and regulate the places that legally sell these animals.

@inertia4 & @purplealabaster personally I'd love to see the government fine all pet stores that sell rodents, reptiles and aquatic animals, none of them are pet material and all should be left in the wild as Mother Nature intended. As has been pointed out by so many on this discussion, too many people don't even know how to actually take care of either a cat or dog and then too many stupid people just abandon them, it's so sad what we've done to the only real pets we have.

I agree that in most cases it is an unwanted risk that I would not be willing to take, especially since it could not only endanger my family and myself but also my neighbors. I think that there is a difference between a cougar in the wild and a cougar that has been in captivity, although they both pose a risk. I think that the cougar in the wild is more wary and tends to stay away from humans, but one that has been in captivity will be more at ease around humans and therefore more dangerous.

Hi purp. I never thought of the microchip that way. Most folk here in the bush don't register or microchip their dogs. I think it's a bit silly really...if your dog is lost or stolen, it has to come to the attention of some authority before it can be associated with it's owner. Who's to say if a vet even checks a microchip for the owner. If the person with the dog is questioned, they could say anything about where they obtained the dog.

I do know that pets with microchips are checked here by the vets, but it might just be in the event that the dog is found and brought to the vet to be checked out and to find its owner. They might not check the chip if someone brings in the dog as their own and just wants it treated and/or vaccinated, although I am not entirely sure what data is stored on the chip, so it might be checked if that data can also be obtained from the chip.

I think that it is good that in your country you have to be licensed to own a pet. We are also supposed to be licensed to own many pets (including dogs and in some areas regular cats), but there are a lot of people that do not seem to think a license is necessary to own a pet, and it does not seem that there are any real measures in place to police them. In fact, I think that there are more measures in place to police dog owners than there are owners of venomous reptiles or insects. I do not like the idea of the microchips, though. I guess that it might be my paranoid side coming out, but it seems that if they can track your pet, then it is yet another means to track you. I think that there are already plenty of ways for the government to track us, and I don't think that they need to require another way. On the other hand, I have had a lost pet before, and I can see the issue from the other side as well, because it makes it a lot easier to locate your missing pet. Unfortunately, I have to agree that there will always be people that will abuse animals. I do think that many pet owners are more responsible ... or at least it seems that they are trying to become more responsible ... so hopefully one day there will be almost no abuse.

LOL! Yeah, I was getting really frustrated once this site looked like it was up and running again, because it took over an hour before I could post anything, even though it seemed that others were not having a problem. So, you do not think that people should be able to keep dangerous animals as pets? I tend to agree with this for the most part, but I do see certain instances where this might be a valid thing, such as the people that milk venomous snakes and spiders to make the anti-venom. Also, there are some trained people, such as animal control officers, that will take in a dangerous animal rather than having it killed if it can't be released back into the wild. I think that these cases are the exception rather than the rule, however, and it seems that many people just want these animals because they think it is "cool" but have absolutely no idea how to properly care for them.

Vow!!! I did it. This is the first activity that went through after the problem that myLot has been facing

My nephew had a cobra and his mother had sleepless nights until he shifted it into the wilds.

I think that has happened a few times with chimpanzees, because we saw one where it happened with a guy. He turned his back for a minute and the chimp grabbed his hair and had him pinned to the cage while it was biting and scratching him. He didn't have his face ripped off, but he did need surgery to repair all the damage to his face and scalp. I do not believe that people really think about what they are doing and the consequences of their actions. You made a great point about the experts ... if this sort of thing is happening to people who are experts with these animals, then why would the average person think that he or she could do better?

@simone10 Yes, it is those darn cute babies that get you every time. I think that part of that is programmed into our DNA ... or at least into the DNA of most people ... because if we really thought about all the problems and issues that can arise with having children, then logically we wouldn't do it. However, most of us cannot resist those adorable little babies, and I think that some of those feelings transfer over onto our thoughts about animals as well, because we are animals ourselves.

@purplealabaster Exactly but people are caught up in the moment of how cute they are when they are babies. They don't think ahead to the time whey they are grown.

That is a good point. Everybody that owns these sorts of pets is not a good or nice person nor do they necessarily care about the health and welfare of the animal. I just thought that the ones that actually care about safety and the animals might benefit from proper training, because sometimes some of the accidents that happen could have been avoided with proper training.

@lokisdad That is certainly true for a lot of things in life.

@purplealabaster its sad that the few rotten apples ruin it for the rest.

I have heard some pretty scary stories concerning both raccoons and monkeys. I actually know somebody that got bit by a monkey and had to get rabies shots. I know that they can both make good companions depending upon the animal. However, I think that they also pose more of a risk than most people realize until it is too late.

@sherryeb When I was young, our neighbor used to feed the squirrels out of his hands. He would open the door, and they would come right into his enclosed front porch so that he could feed them. He used to let me feed them as well. I never gave this a thought until I was older, but that was not such a safe thing, especially as these were not even squirrels that he was keeping as pets but rather whichever ones happened to be in his yard when it was feeding time. Fortunately, nobody ever got bit.

When I was a child I used to visit a man that had monkeys in cages in his back yard. He would give me peanuts to feed them through the cages, but he stood there and supervised me so as not to get bit, that worried him some. My friends had a raccoon and it bit their daughter, also a ferret nipped at me once, scared me off of those critters for a pet, I thought they were so cute until that happened@purplealabaster

I agree with you most of the time. I think that there are some instances where it is better for the animal (for example, my aunt rescued a bird and it became her pet), but most of the time wild animals should stay in the wild, especially if they have the potential to harm others or themselves. You also make a great point about us not being able to give them a proper diet and exercise, which can make them very ill.

@Clairelouiser Oh, monkeys are SO cute, that I totally understand the desire to have them as a pet. I also understand that it is normally not in the best interest of the monkey or the family to have them as a pet. Raccoons are another animal that is adorable but should not be made into a pet. I do know somebody who rescued a baby raccoon, nursed it back to health and raised it. The raccoon had no fear of people and no skills, so they kept it as a pet, but normally that is not a good idea for the raccoon or the people around it.

@purplealabaster yes, if an animal is rescued and has no chance of rehabilitation then it should be kept and treated properly, but most of them should just be left where they are, monkeys are a prime example, so many people keep monkeys as pets and it almost kills the poor things.