Alarm as 2,500 private owners keep elephants, tigers and lemurs as pets

Think about dwelling subsequent door to a tiger, puma or ­crocodile, or a lemur, ­mountain lion, honey badger or ostrich.

Unusual as it could sound, there are a minimum of 2,500 wild animals in personal collections in England, together with snakes and scorpions, 300 wild cats, greater than 200 primates – and even two elephants.

As unique pet possession soars, the British Veterinary Affiliation (BVA) is urging folks to rethink their selections, fearing many house owners purchase them on a whim after which wrestle to take care of the animals correctly.

Greater than eight in 10 vets raised issues in regards to the welfare of unique reptiles, amphibians, birds and different animals in a BVA report, with most blaming what they known as ­“irresponsible animal possession”.

Vets mentioned almost 60% would not have their primary welfare wants met, whereas greater than 1 / 4 of these surveyed reported an increase within the variety of unique animals introduced in for therapy up to now yr.

Unique pet possession has sparked alarm amongst animal lovers ( Picture: Getty Photos/500px)

“We perceive why so many individuals would like to have them as pets, as they’re uncommon and are a bit totally different to proudly owning a cat or a canine,” mentioned Justine Shotton, a veterinary surgeon and senior vice-president on the BVA.

“However it’s so necessary to not purchase unique species on a whim as they’ve very complicated wants and it may be each difficult and costly to take care of themproperly.”

Many unique pets have explicit environmental, dietary and housing wants and require specialist care that could be obtainable solely in sure elements of the nation.

Some animals even have particular heating, lighting or UV wants that folks may wrestle to pay for due to hovering power payments.

The BVA is campaigning for stricter guidelines for on-line gross sales and promoting of unique animals, whereas it says the importing of amphibians and reptiles caught within the wild for the pet commerce must be banned. It additionally desires a register of possession and for homeowners to move a check to show they will look after an unique pet.

“We all know individuals who maintain these animals have the appropriate intentions to provide them the perfect care they will, however their wants will be tough to satisfy, ­significantly if they’re a brand new pet and homeowners usually are not certain precisely what they require,” Justine added.

“We would like potential consumers to take the additional time to actually suppose twice about if they will take care of them correctly, in addition to encouraging them to do correct analysis to make sure they know precisely what the species must dwell a contented and wholesome life.”

This text by Nada Farhoud was first revealed by The Mirror on 19 February 2023. Lead Picture: Getty Photos.


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