Exotic Pets

Tammy's note:  Please read my comments at the end of this article, I feel they are very important to this issue.  

Every year, countless people succumb to the temptation to purchase "exotic" animals like hedgehogs, iguanas, parrots, Bengal TIGERS (note: not referring to the breed of cat!) and so forth from pet stores/auctions to keep as "pets".  But life in captivity is often a miserable experience for these animals, who may suffer from malnutrition, an improper environment, loneliness and the stress of confinement.  The exotic animal trade is also deadly for the animals we DON'T see.  For every animal who makes it to the pet store, countless others die along the way.

Even when birds, reptiles, fish and mammals are legally purchased in pet shops, a cruel illegal trade in the exotic animals is being supported.  Birds are smuggled into the United States more than any other animal.  Before being shipped, birds are often force-fed, their wings clipped, their beaks tape shut, and they are crammed into everything from spare tires to luggage.  It is not unusual for 80 percent of the birds in one shipment to die.  Reptiles, who are drugged and stuffed into containers with false bottoms, also have high death rates.  Despite the enormous losses of life, smugglers reap profits. Wildlife experts estimate that the illegal trade in exotic animals is a $10 billion-a-year business.  The illegal trade in wild animals is second in dollar value only to the illegal trade in drugs.

Taking animals away from their natural habitats not only endangers individual animals, it jeopardizes entire populations and ecosystems.  For example, the population of the South American hyacinth macaw has dropped 75 percent in the last 10 years due to smugglers capturing the birds for U.S. and European collectors.  In Argentina, trappers have cut down thousands of quebracho trees since 1976 to reach fledgling macaws in their nests, destroying the habitat for all remaining animals.  The capture of these birds effects the whole environment.  Often adult birds and animals are killed so that their babies can be captured safely.  For example, smugglers will shoot and kill mother orangutans to retrieve the babies.  The young orangutan will cling to the dead mother's body instead of fleeing - making this baby "ripe for the picking".

Exotic animals bred in captivity usually fare no better.  Often birds are kept for breeding in small, filthy cages.  Female birds can be injured or killed by aggressive males because the nest boxes offer no means of escape.  One trade magazine warns that hedgehogs under stress - from being confined, fed an improper diet, or forced to have too many litters - may display erratic behaviour, including deserting, or even eating their babies.

According to animal shelter sources, 60 percent of all wild animals who are kept as pets DIE within the first month of ownership; of the remainder, 20 percent die within the first year, and only 10 percent are still alive by the end of the second year.  Exotic animals generally do not bond with humans, so once the novelty has worn off, they become more of an inconvenience than a source of entertainment and are neglected, released to certain death in the wild or dropped off at animal shelters.

Exotic pets teach the wrong message about wild animals.  They are not commodities to be acquired because they are different or trendy.  Wild animals belong in their natural habitats and not in a cage in the living room.

Tammy's comments:  This article was written using information and statistics compiled by PeTA.  Recognized by many pet owners as animal rights EXTREMISTS, their words should be taken with a grain of salt.  

The Asian Leopard Cats used in many of the very first Bengal breeding programs were brought from various places... some pet shops participating in the exotic animal trade... some orphaned ones from other countries... some as zoo surplus... and some produced by knowledgeable individuals familiar with exotic animal husbandry.  

Most (except 2 subspecies I believe) Asian Leopard Cats are not on the endangered species list... and those used in breeding programs today are no longer being taken from the wild.  They are produced by caring people in carefully reconstructed habitats and receive the best of care.  

Despite the somewhat controversial nature of this article, I have reproduced it here so that people considering in offering a home to an "exotic" animal (such as Asian Leopard Cat, Serval, Caracal, Margay, Ocelot or other wildcat) will carefully consider and weigh this decision.  Exotic animals require special care and will suffer in conditions offering anything less than the best.  One of the many reasons for the establishment of the Bengal cat breed was to produce a cat with qualities similar to the wildcats that inspire passion in so many people.  By having a breed of cat that resembles a wildcat but has the personality and care of a domestic, perhaps someday it will become reality when the exotic animal trade is snuffed out.

There are many folks who question the ethics of "playing god" or "messing with Mother Nature" and establishing ANY new breed, especially one based on the hybridization of a wild species with domestic.  No matter what your stance is on this... it is important to know that there are people out there working to eliminate the exotic animal trade.  

OUR COMMENTS ABOUT PeTA AND OTHER ANIMAL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS:
As a breeder or individual, Tapestry Bengals DOES NOT support PeTA or similar organizations.  As an organization, they do not make their agenda clear enough to the public.  Through many articles posted, they have expressed a desire to create a world where there are NO PETS... a stark world without the love and beauty that is the human-animal bond of friendship.  

In their promotional package, which I (Tammy) have received and viewed carefully before making this decision, they do not state this final goal... and yet in many quotes of their leaders, it is readily apparent.  

Tapestry DOES support Animal Welfare and Health issues... but holds the personal opinion that many animal rights activists and organizations, in their quest to save the animals, are condemning them at the same time.  

Many celebrities sign on to this cause without fully knowing what they are associating their name to... they place PeTA supporting labels on their CD's, star in animal rights advertisements... and yet at the same time wear leather, feathers, furs and eat meat.  Groups such as PeTA allow this hypocritical behaviour simply because it advertises their cause... and may convert fans of these celebrities at the same time.

Tapestry is not here on the soapbox to say that you shouldn't support them... or that all organizations such as this are wrong.  We are here in hopes that you will carefully consider your support for them... and to question them on these issues when possible.  In our (many) attempts to get answers regarding these issues, we have been repeatedly ignored, even without informing them of our position as a purebred animal breeder.  So please, be careful what you support... if these extremist folks have their way (and they have more and more politicians listening), it may eventually become AGAINST THE LAW to own, care for and love a pet.

(Reproduced with permission from the
Toronto Humane Society's Animal Talk Newsletter.)