The Dangers of Exotic Pet Ownership

Because of the nature of exotic animals, it can be very exciting for people to keep them as pets. And who hasn’t dreamed of coming home to a pet lion or bear cub? Though not explicitly illegal in some states, owning an exotic pet can come at a significant price. Exotic animals are exotic for a reason – generally, they don’t mix very well with people, and there have been many instances of people trying to keep dangerous animals leading to tragedies.

According to LiveScience , there are more tigers kept as pets than roam free in the wild. The number of tigers kept as pets is estimated at between 5,000 and 7,000 worldwide. In a 21-year period, there were 21 deaths attributed to pet big cats, 18 attributed to reptiles, and 14 deaths attributed to pet elephants. The combination of all the deaths attributed to exotic pets was 75, with more than 1,600 incidents causing nonfatal injuries.

Though you should take exotic pets seriously because of their propensity to attack, there are other reasons they present large challenges to those who care for them. For instance, 90% of all reptiles carry salmonella in their feces, and many other exotics carry and transfer monkeypox, herpes B, and other contagious diseases. Owners of exotic pets are in contact with these deadly diseases every day and must take extra precaution for themselves and the people around them.

Exotic animals cannot be domesticated completely, and that’s especially true of those that are raised in the wild. No matter how loving a pet lion is, he’s an animal first and a pet second. Consider the example of Amber Michelle Couch of Odessa, Texas. Though legal for her ad anyone in Texas to keep wild animals, Couch hadn’t kept up with the animal’s vaccinations and was cited for keeping the lion in a cage that was too small. Unfortunately, Couch’s 4-year-old nephew ventured too close to the cage and was mauled. He survived, but was scarred permanently, and the animal had to be euthanized.

Couch’s story isn’t an anomaly; exotic animals seriously injure many people who imagined they could domesticate their pets. Though most people understand the danger of big cats, vipers, and elephants, many underestimate the wolf dog because of its dog-like appearance. A wolf dog is any animal that is the result of the mating between a dog and a wolf or wolf descendent.

Even when even-tempered, these animals should not be treated as fully domesticated, because they still contain the aggressive genetic material of the wolf. There is a higher than average number of dog bites attributed to wolf dogs, and they are the sixth most likely breed to cause a fatality.

When pet owners don’t properly warn visitors of an animal’s disposition, they could be responsible for injuries. When children approach an animal like a wolf dog, who looks more like a traditional pet than a wolf, they can be seriously injured.

Regardless of the kind of exotic pet, owners are responsible for keeping their pets well maintained in cages and away from the public at large. Although Texas doesn’t have a law against owning exotic pets, it does stipulate that all the animals under a person’s care need to be properly maintained and housed.

If an exotic pet has injured you or someone you care about, discuss your situation with an attorney who understands Texas law. Call on Gordon, Elias, & Seely to explain whether you can be compensated for your injury by someone’s exotic animal.

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