I watched an amazing story called “Loungeroom Safari” on 60 minutes on Sunday night about the rescue of exotic animals from homes in America.
In the US, you can buy a Lion, Tiger or Bear (oh my!) as a pet.
YES, you heard me correctly, as A PET. Being an avid animal activist, this brought on many feelings for me, the main one being rage! I find it incomprehensible that someone can think a Lion, Tiger or Bear would make a good pet. Yes they are cute as cubs, and sure, we’d all ‘love’ to have one, but then reality kicks in and you realise that the cute bundle of fur you are looking at will grow into a 300kg plus WILD ANIMAL.
These are not domesticated animals like cats and dogs, they are called wild animals for a reason, the main one being that as the name suggests, they are wild, and will remain wild, no matter how much love or training you give it. If your pet tiger is in a cranky mood and doesn’t want a pat, he will take your arm off with a swipe of his paw, whereas your domestic cat may only render a scratch.
I can understand that most people want to own exotic pets out of love and awe for the animal, however we need to start thinking about how much of this is ‘love’ and how much is a selfish want. If you really love wild animals, DON’T buy one as a pet. The animal will be much happier in its natural environment, roaming the wilderness and forests as it was born to do. To own these animals is cruel and selfish; no creature of this size or stature should be kept in a cage for human enjoyment. If you love animals, stick to books, the internet and the discovery channel, and see them living in their natural environment.
No animal should be kept in a cage; not a domestic animal, and even more so not a wild one. Humans are just one species of animal that live on this earth. Just because a Lion does not speak our language, does not give us the right to put it in a cage.
There are approximately 7,000 tigers kept as pets in the USA alone - yes that’s right, 7,000. This is twice the amount left in the wild throughout the entire world. There are 25,000 great cats and bears and other large carnivores that are outside the zoo system in the United States. These figures are just astounding, and it needs to stop!
Pat and the team at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado rescue large predators from their ‘owners’ and rehabilitate them from their dysfunctional life with humans back into a more natural world.
For Pat, it all started 30 years ago when he rescued a jaguar called Freckles, and since then he has saved more than 1,000 animals. Today his 320-acre property is home to lions, bears, wolves, leopards, cougars and 70 tigers. The ultimate goal is to eventually release all these creatures into large prairie paddocks to enjoy a freedom never known before. But some animals have been so badly treated that that is almost impossible.
To see the fantastic work that Pat Craig and his team at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, visit: http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/home.html
To read a transcript of the 60 minutes presentation, click here.
Just remember: sometimes the most love you can give to a wild animal is to let it be what it is supposed to be – a wild animal.
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