Why Exotic Pets Should Not Be Banned

We all know how special interest groups can blow things out of proportion ? like the nonexistent "Exotic Pet Crisis." If you listened to some animal rights groups, you'd think keeping exotic pets is cruel, dangerous, and even bordering on treason! Before you buy that agenda, consider that a junior high student once made a convincing case for banning dihydrogen monoxide: colorless, odorless, and tasteless, it kills thousands of people every year.

Most deaths are caused by inhalation, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Dihydrogen monoxide is also known as hydroxl acid, is the major component of acid rain, may cause severe burns, contributes to land erosion, may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes, and has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

This report was presented to 50 students, asking them what should be done about the chemical. 43 students favored banning it, 6 were undecided, and only one correctly recognized that 'dihydrogen monoxide' is actually H2O -- plain old water. How gullible are you?

Banning my cat makes about as much sense as banning yours ? and the results are just as heartbreaking for pet and owner. Are you ready for the truth about the "Exotic Pet Crisis?"

  • Exotic pets are not dangerous! One study showed that the risk of injury to exotic cat owners was less than the risk of injury due to a domestic dog bite. And every person who drives a motor vehicle subjects themselves and their family to a risk three times greater then does someone who owns even a large exotic cat such as a tiger.

  • Most exotic pet owners are kind, intelligent people who adore their animals and take excellent care of them. We love our pets just as you love yours.

  • Exotic animal bans result in beloved pets being confiscated, impounded, and usually killed. A lucky few live out their lives in cages under the care of strangers in zoos and sanctuaries. This is the dirty secret animal rights groups don't want you to know. Banning does not help animals: it kills them!

  • Exotic cat ownership is already regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, CITES, the Animal Welfare Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Lacey Act, more city, county, and state regulations than you can shake a stick at, as well as existing animal welfare and public safety laws that govern both exotic and domestic animals.

  • "You can buy a tiger on the Internet for $100.00," research-averse activists proclaim in horror. Just try to order up a tiger online, or even a serval. You won't succeed. This urban legend has great repeatability at cocktail parties and save-the-cute-animals-from-evil-humans fundraisers, but is severely lacking in the reality department. Breeders do have web sites, but it takes much more than a click of the mouse to purchase an exotic cat.

For information on wild and exotic cats from servals to tigers as pets, visit http://www.exoticcatz.com. The site includes articles on care, behavior, housing, and legal issues as well as species profiles and photos.

This article may be reprinted in its entirety only. Permission is not granted to reproduce in edited form or to support the ending of exotic pet ownership.

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President-elect Barack Obama, second from the left, stands with, from left to right, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and National Security Adviser-designate Ret. Marine Gen. James Jones, at a news conference to announce his national security team, in Chicago, Monday, Dec. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)AP - President-elect Barack Obama picked a national security team headed by former campaign rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bush administration holdover Robert Gates on Monday, and said he wants to consult with military commanders before settling on a firm timetable to withdraw U.S. combat troops from Iraq.



In thgis Nov. 18, 2008 file photo, Paul Nawrocki, from Beacon, N.Y., wears a sign as he looks for work near the David Letterman studios in New York. The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday.  (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)AP - The U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007, the National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday.



U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment pray before heading out on patrol in Baqouba, , 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)AP - Barack Obama says the U.S.-Iraq security agreement approved by Iraq's parliament puts the U.S. on a "glide path" toward reducing forces there.



Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke shown in Washington in this November 18, 2008 file photo. (Molly Riley/Reuters)AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that further interest-rate cuts are "certainly feasible," but he warned there are limits to how much such action would revive an economy likely to stay weak well into next year.



AP - Authorities responding to a shooting at suburban Miami mall say one person has been shot and taken to a hospital.

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People place petals and touch the photographs of slain policemen at a prayer meeting to pay tribute to Mumbai's policemen who lost their lives in the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008. India's top security official offered his resignation Sunday, a senior aide said, as the government struggled under growing accusations of security failures following the Mumbai attacks. (AP Photo / Gautam Singh)AP - India demanded Pakistan take "strong action" against those behind the 60-hour siege that left at least 172 people dead, as new details emerged Monday about the gunmen and the survival training that enabled them to thwart Indian commandos.



AP - Israel has gotten fed up with spam. Anyone who sends out messages without receiving the recipient's consent can now be slapped with a big fine.

In this April 22, 2008 file photo Tina Fey makes an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live at MTV Studios  in New York.  (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)AP - Tina Fey's husband is talking about something the "30 Rock" actress would rather not discuss: the scar on her left cheek.



New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress arrives at a police station, Monday, Dec.1, 2008, in New York. Burress was expected to be charged after accidentally shooting himself in the right thigh. Burress shot himself at a Manhattan nightclub Friday night and was released from a hospital early Saturday, the Giants said. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)AP - Authorities investigating Plaxico Burress' accidental shooting say they are looking into what roles his teammate Antonio Pierce and the hospital that treated Burress played in the incident.



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Members of ZAKA, Israel's non-governmental rescue-and-recovery organization which specializes in collecting human remains to ensure a proper Jewish burial, speak with policemen after performing religious rituals in front of Nariman House in Mumbai's Colaba area, December 1, 2008. (Jayanta Shaw/Reuters)Reuters - India on Monday demanded Pakistan take swift action over deadly attacks in Mumbai it said were carried out by militants from its rival neighbor.



An anti-government demonstrator chases after a suspected pro-government supporter in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport on December 1, 2008. (Kerek Wongsa =/Reuters)Reuters - Thai protesters prepared to end their three-month occupation of the Prime Minister's office on Monday to consolidate their grip on the main airport ahead of a court verdict that could dissolve the elected government.



Workers wearing T-shirts with company slogans at Siemens MR Center located at the Shenzhen High-Tech Industrial Park in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, November 25, 2008. (Bobby Yip/Reuters)Reuters - European leaders clashed on Monday over how much public money to spend on battling recession as data showed factories were slashing output in the United States, Europe and China.



Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol in Washington November 21, 2008. (Molly Riley/Reuters)Reuters - House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi met leading governors on Monday to discuss the size and shape of an economic stimulus package she hopes Barack Obama can sign when he becomes president on January 20.



Birmingham Mayor Larry P. Langford in an undated photo. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Federal authorities arrested the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday in a corruption probe surrounding a massive sewer bond debt that has forced Jefferson County to the brink of bankruptcy.



A woman shops at a Walmart store on 'Black Friday' in Oakland, California, November 28, 2008. (Kimberly White/Reuters)Reuters - Key retail stocks fell on Monday as investors feared that deep discounts offered by U.S. stores during the year's first holiday shopping weekend could sap profits and would not save a bleak season.



US President-elect Barack Obama (L) nominates Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, as US Secretary of State during a press conference in Chicago, Illinios. Obama on Monday nominated Hillary Clinton to be his AFP - Barack Obama on Monday nominated Hillary Clinton to be his "tough," "smart" secretary of state and his former foe vowed to give her all to steer America through a perfect storm of global crises.



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