The Elephant In The Living Room-Documentary exploring exotic pet ownership in America (snakes, snake)

[no kudzu]

Last night I watched this fascinating documentary on Netflix. Unregulated exotic pet ownership in America is a big problem. Dangerous snakes, Big Cats, elephants, bears, etc. can be owned in many states with no licensing or tags or inspections. There is more regulation for dog and cat ownership than exotic wild animals and it is usually the animals who suffer. But sometimes we hear about people like Carla Nash whose face was ripped off by a pet chimp and the man who let all his wild animals out of their cages and then committed suicide. The animals were hunted and killed. It was a tragedy all the way around. I think if more people know about this situation some changes can be made.

The Elephant in the Living Room: An Inside Look at Exotic Pet Ownership in the United States | Animal Blawg

[aquietpath]

Exotics belong in the wild and not cages, imo. Owning an exotic animal requires a thorough knowledge of their needs and behaviors. Sadly, most of the owners end up keeping their exotics under conditions that are less than ideal. There should be stricter laws concerning the ownership of these animals, with some kind of licensing involved that requires owners to show proper care and housing given to the animals, if the states don't want to ban ownership outright.

The article mentions the exotic animal auction took place in a largely Amish county of Ohio. The Amish are notorious for their puppy mills and it appears as though they deal with exotics as well. Disturbing.

[bjh]

^
Interesting and not all that surprising. The Amish are idealized by a lot of people.