When the illustrative term “wild” precedes the word animal, it is tough to find any gray area. The discipline and restraint of domestication are absent, and the inherent danger with anything wild should be obvious.
But as we observe in a frightening conga line of nightmarish cases, people continue to swim in the illusion that wild animals can be kept as pets. In the rare cases where safety as an issue is minimized and the arrangement might make some sense for the owner, the “pet” usually is sentenced to a life devoid of anything close to a comfortable environment, and its instinctive requirements are cruelly ignored.
There were three cases recently in the Pittsburgh area where police and animal control officials had to respond to reports of alligators loose in the city. Pittsburgh sits at the 40th Parallel North, well beyond the historical range of alligators, and authorities think at least two of the gators were “discarded pets.”
These are wild animals, not pets. Much the same as pythons, monitors, tigers, monkeys, boa constrictors, lions, wolves, baboons, cobras, and bears are not pets – they are wild animals. They don’t belong in homes, in close proximity to people. Outside of well-designed and operated zoos where these animals are provided a suitable environment and cared for by professionals, they belong in the wild.
There are attempts to soften the narrative by calling them “pets.” They are wild, and even cutesy names such as a black bear called “Teddy” can’t rinse the thousands of years of powerful feral instinct from an apex predator.
“Teddy” had been raised by an Allentown family since it was a cub, but as a 350-pound adult bruin, it killed its 37-year-old owner as she was cleaning its cage. Her children watched the attack in horror, and a neighbor had to shoot the bear as it guarded its prey.
About 10 years ago, a Connecticut woman named Charla Nash was trying to help a friend get a 200-pound “pet” chimpanzee back in its cage when the animal mauled Nash. The attack was so brutal Nash later became the first patient to receive a double-hand and face transplant.
Illinois farmer Al Abell was cleaning the cage where he and his wife kept their “pet” lion named Simba when the cat bit and killed him. The lion had to be shot and killed with an AK47 in order for police to reach Abell’s body.
In Ohio, Terry Thompson caged close to 50 wild animals on his property outside Zanesville, then released them before committing suicide. Endangered Bengal tigers, monkeys, lions, wolves, baboons, and other dangerous wild animals had to be slaughtered by law enforcement officers to protect children waiting for a school bus and the other people living in the area.
A Florida couple kept a Burmese python in their home as a “pet,” in a tank they covered with a quilt. The snake escaped 10 times, then during its 11th breakout, the python wrapped itself around the head of the couple’s 2-year-old daughter and suffocated her.
There’s more — many more — but whether it’s an ocelot, raccoon, ferret, or a deer, these are not pets.
“Private individuals don’t often realize the consequences to these potentially dangerous animals,” said Kent Bekker, chief mission officer for the Toledo Zoo. “The biggest thing, whether for domestic or exotic animals, people need to understand that they need to provide all of the necessary requirements for any animal they are going to keep in captivity. That’s the key, and the zoo does that, and we have numerous safety protocols in place regarding these animals.”
Many reptiles can carry salmonella — my nephew almost died when he was a toddler after contracting the disease from a tiny dime store turtle. Some primates are couriers of diseases that are deadly to humans. Then there are the inherent risks associated with venomous snakes.
“And there are a lot of those venomous snakes in private hands,” Bekker said, alluding to a disaster waiting to happen. “Before you bring any animal into the home, you need to think about the people around you.”
Late in 2007, a couple of duck hunters at Metzger’s Marsh found a carpet python, native to Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. About five years ago, an alligator close to five feet long was removed from a Perrysburg Township creek. In both cases, officials theorized the animals had simply grown too big for the owners to manage, so they were set loose.
I’ve often wondered if keeping wild animals as so-called pets feeds some kind of machismo, or is it another manifestation of what appears to be the “Look at Me syndrome,” where pangs for attention are satisfied with inane video stunts, bizarre hairstyles, neck tattoos, or parading around with a “pet” snake, and the like.
Adopt a dog, care for a cat, or raise a few chickens. This Noah’s Ark of wild beasts people try and force to be pets is rarely fair to the animal, or safe for their human keepers.
First Published June 28, 2019, 10:00 a.m.
