Problems With Exotic Pet Ownership

Exotic Pets

The problem with exotic pet ownership has been escalating over the years, especially in the last ten to fifteen years alone. Many state governments in the last couple years have been trying to pass laws and different measures to deal with this issues such as an Ohio lawmaker that is proposing a new law that would ban people from owning most exotic animals starting in 2014 (Weekly Reader News Addition) and in Tennessee where lawmakers pitch new exotic ownership rules which would ban the private ownership, import, sale and transfer of most wildlife--regardless of whether or not they are indigenous to the state (DVM Magazine). A few big problems with owning exotic pets is they are often really dangerous and many people cannot provide
the type of environment that the wild animals need and the big problem that the media tends to focus on is when the owners let the pet go because it has gotten too big for them to handle or they feel they can no longer care for them properly. So the question becomes what kind of compromise can be met that satisfies both exotic pet owners that currently own exotic pets and what can be done to help curb the problem of pet owners let their exotic pet go when they can no longer care for them? No more is this situation as evident than in the National Everglades Park in Florida where pythons and other extremely big snakes have wreaked havoc on the park because of owners letting them get into the wild or in a few cases the snakes escaping.
Burmese python’s became so popular that in fact according to an article in National Parks by the summer of 2010 Miami, Florida was receiving 12,000 shipments of wildlife to be sold as exotic pets, Burmese pythons among them. They got introduced into the exotic pet trade in the 80s and then became a problem starting in early 2000 when many of the owners starting letting them go when they realized that the python could grow up to 13 feet and in some cases longer. Many believe Hurricane Andrew is also responsible for destroying pet stores and other places where they could of escaped from. According to Linda Friar with Everglades National Park, park personnel have captured or killed 1,825 pythons since
2000. Exotic pet owners still defend the right to own any type of animal that they want and feel that it is not anybody’s or the governments right to tell them what pet they can or cannot own. In fact exotic pet enthusiast say that the industry on a whole is doing much better and what is happening in Florida is an isolated problem with that particular exotic pet. A exotic snake enthusiast also points out “on average in the United States, only 3.25 people per year are killed by captive big cats, snakes, elephants and bears” They also point out “If we have the freedom to choose what car to buy, where to live, or what domestic animal to have, why shouldn't we have the same freedom to choose what species of wild or exotic animal to own and to love?” (USA Today) However those “isolated incidents” of irresponsibility on the owners part and Hurricane Andrew that brushed through southern Florida made it a very big and growing problem within Florida’s park and a few other places down south maintains the government, scientist and other law officials dealing with the python problem within the Everglades. Since it has no native predator besides the occasional crocodile in Florida, the python has seriously depleted the native species to feed its large appetite but it’s also the pythons mating that has scientist worried. They recently found a 17 foot 7 inch python with 87 eggs in her stomach, which is no doubt a new record. It has become such a problem that according to The New York Times, the United States has stepped in to help and has banned four large snake species that include the Burmese Pythons, Yellow Anaconda, Northern African Pythons and Southern African Pythons in their quest to help deal with the exotic snake problem (New York Times). Again the question becomes what do we do about people who currently own these huge snakes since the recent ban does not cover them.
Since it would not be fair to the exotic pet owners who has already purchased them to just hand them over and give up the pet we need solutions that would help to satisfy both sides to this issue. One solution would be to plant a microchip in the animal that could track it in case it escapes or if the owner lets it loose and if the snake does get found either return it to the owner if he claims it escaped or in the case where it was let loose, fine the owner a maximum penalty of up to five thousand dollars and up to three years in prison. Another plan is already being implemented to help overwhelmed exotic snake owners and other exotic pet owners. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission created a program called Non-Native Amnesty Day, an event that gives overwhelmed pet owners a chance to turn in unwanted exotic pets to certified adopters better equipped to care for them (National Parks). I suggest that Florida and other parts of the country do more of this to help the owners of these exotic snakes and all the other dangerous exotic
pets. Although there is not a lot it seems that we can do right now about exotic snakes that has already escaped in Florida and in other parts of the United States, there is more we can do prevent the catastrophe that has engulfed the Everglades National Park in Florida from spreading. Not only is this problem draining money from Florida it is also effecting the native wildlife. Banning all exotic pets is not necessarily the answer but helping to put more restrictions and imbedding them with microchips that could track them and help with punishing the people who are irresponsible at the same time would be a good compromise for both sides.