IS IT TIME TO BAN Exotic PET Ownership?

8 September 2023

Born Totally free welcomes Very good Early morning Britain discussion on the maintaining of exotic pets.

On Thursday 7 September, Very good Early morning Britain debated regardless of whether exotic pet ownership need to be banned subsequent a spate of modern snake escapes throughout Britain. Born Free of charge is opposed to the trade in and retaining of wild and exotic animals as animals. We would like to applaud ITV and the Great Early morning Britain staff for discussing this important animal welfare difficulty, having said that we have issues about how the difficulty was offered.

Regrettably, the debate opened with a “professional handler” holding various different species of snake. The inclusion of captive wild animals in the studio throughout the discussion was unwanted and probably very stress filled for the snakes concerned. The snakes were of diverse species and were being held with each other. One particular of the snakes appeared to have a clouded eye cap, which is an indication that the snake is about to lose its pores and skin (a procedure recognised as ecdysis). At these periods, snakes are exceptionally susceptible to predation and would ordinarily look for out a quiet, darkish space. Eliminating them from their environmentally managed enclosure, transporting them to a tv studio and dealing with them in the dazzling and noisy studio setting is likely to be incredibly stress filled and harmful to their welfare, although also posing the possibility of troubles in the skin shedding method. We would urge ITV and the Superior Early morning Britain workforce to desist from exhibiting captive wild animals in their studios in long run as their presence sites the animals and the people today associated at unwanted hazard and is not an necessary ingredient of the discussion.

Wild animals, no matter if they are taken from the wild or born in captivity, have complex wants that can not be fulfilled by private keepers in a domestic ecosystem. The needs of many species held as unique animals aren’t perfectly recognized by science, let alone traders and keepers. Regardless of this, it is at this time legal in the British isles to preserve almost any wild animal as a pet, which can have critical repercussions for animal welfare, conservation, human and animal overall health & protection and the chance of invasive species as highlighted in our joint report with the RSCPA, ‘The Exotic Pet-demic‘.

In other places in Europe, quite a few nations around the world are producing or have currently executed regulatory techniques recognized as ‘positive lists’, although the Scottish Animal Welfare Fee recently suggested that the Scottish Authorities really should consider the merits of this sort of a record. Constructive listing techniques allow the maintaining of only individuals species on the listing. The progress and implementation of a optimistic record is dependent on systematic, aim, evidence-based assessments of threats to animal welfare, wildlife conservation, human wellness and safety, and the wider natural environment, hence aiming to ensure that species are only bundled on the listing if the pitfalls are very low.

Born Absolutely free believes that the holding of wild animals as ‘exotic pets’ in the British isles is an challenge that urgently wants addressing. We are contacting on the United kingdom Authorities to overview and reform legal guidelines on unique pet ownership, together with providing thought to the improvement and implementation of a sturdy ‘positive list’ program.

WILD ANIMALS AS PETS     THE Unique PET-DEMIC