wild animals as pets
Main Speech
How many of you have ever said you wanted a pet monkey when you were at the zoo last time? Or imagined how great it would be to have a tiger sleep at the foot of your bed instead of just a dog? That all sounds wonderful at first but how many people do you know that have ever had an exotic pet and not regretted it immediately? It's not really as great as you think. According to the Human Society of the United States in one of their recent surveys, "90% of exotic pets die within the first year and 90% of the remainder die in the second year. That means that only 1% lives past the age of two."
Every year wild animals seriously hurt or kill people, usually their owners or family members. Big cats have killed many children and even grown men, not to mention the dogs’ people think their cougar will be friends with, they never survive. Monkeys are always the pet people wish they could have. However, they can never be trained, tamed, or basically domesticated like people think. Take Louie for example, a Black-capped capuchin born in August 2004. He was bought by a family in Chicago when he was just a baby. Within months he had bitten their daughter several times severely, but when he finally bit a child outside the family, his life was in danger. Louie's owner found herself in court fighting against the parents of the child who demanded that his head be sent off for rabies testing.
How many of you have ever said you wanted a pet monkey when you were at the zoo last time? Or imagined how great it would be to have a tiger sleep at the foot of your bed instead of just a dog? That all sounds wonderful at first but how many people do you know that have ever had an exotic pet and not regretted it immediately? It's not really as great as you think. According to the Human Society of the United States in one of their recent surveys, "90% of exotic pets die within the first year and 90% of the remainder die in the second year. That means that only 1% lives past the age of two."
Every year wild animals seriously hurt or kill people, usually their owners or family members. Big cats have killed many children and even grown men, not to mention the dogs’ people think their cougar will be friends with, they never survive. Monkeys are always the pet people wish they could have. However, they can never be trained, tamed, or basically domesticated like people think. Take Louie for example, a Black-capped capuchin born in August 2004. He was bought by a family in Chicago when he was just a baby. Within months he had bitten their daughter several times severely, but when he finally bit a child outside the family, his life was in danger. Louie's owner found herself in court fighting against the parents of the child who demanded that his head be sent off for rabies testing.