Exotic Pets: Related Articles

Authorsort descending Article Name Summary
Martha Drouet (updated by Asia Siev) Detailed Discussion of Exotic Pet Laws Update First, this paper details the various policy concerns that private exotic animal ownership presents to the public, the animals, and the environment. Next, this paper briefly lays out the few federal laws that apply and the effects they have on private exotic animal ownership. State laws are then analyzed under four regulatory schemes: bans on private wildlife possession, partial bans on certain wild or exotic animals, a licensing scheme for owning exotic or wild animals, and states with miscellaneous or no regulations, including an analysis of states that ban or regulate hybrids of domestic and exotic or wild animals. Then, a few local regulations are discussed, followed by the way these laws and regulations are enforced. Finally, trends over the last decade are discussed along with conclusions and possible recommendations for comprehensive protection.
Zoe Friedland Detailed Discussion of Swap Meet Laws This article provides a detailed definition of swap meets and explores both existing laws that could be used to regulate swap meets and swap-meet specific legislation. It analyzes swap meet regulations at the local and state level. It concludes with some thoughts about how to make swap meet laws more effective, and how political barriers stand in the way of doing so.
Zoe Friedland Overview of Swap Meet Laws

Animal swap meets are places where people buy, sell or trade animals in an open-air, flea-market-style setting. The most commonly sold animals are chickens and other birds, rabbits, pigs, reptiles, and dogs.
Zoe Friedland Brief Summary of Swap Meet Laws

Animal swap meets are places where people buy, sell or trade animals in an open-air, flea-market-style setting. Swap meet vendors sell and trade a wide range of animals, from birds, to farm animals, to cats and dogs.
Alan Green Animal Underworld: Inside America's Black Market for Rare and Exotic Species

This excerpt outlines the on-going debate related to canned hunts of captive exotic animals.

James M. Green Biological Information: Reptile Biology and Physiology

This overview describes the fundamental characteristics of reptile biology and physiology.

James M. Green Detailed Discussion of International Trade in Wild-Caught Reptiles

The international trade in wild-caught reptiles has been cause for increasing concern, especially over the last few years. Federal, state and foreign laws are seemingly broken everyday as hundreds of thousands of reptiles are imported and exported each, mostly for the pet trade. In addition to depleting our natural resources and threatening many species with extinction, the reptiles are treated inhumanely and can even pose a health risk to people and the environment.

James M. Green Overview of the International Trade in Wild-Caught Reptiles

This overview discusses the nature of the international trade in wild reptiles and the impediments to enforcing those laws that protect reptile species. The concerns of ownership, such as zoonotic disease, injury to the animal itself, and threats to public safety, are also presented.

James M. Green Brief Summary of the International Trade in Wild-Caught Reptiles

This brief summary overviews the problems associated with the international illegal reptile trade.

Alicia S Ivory Overview of Laws Affecting Chimpanzees

This article summarizes international and federal laws affecting chimpanzees.

Alicia S Ivory Brief Overview of Chimpanzee Laws

This article briefly covers the main threats to chimpanzee welfare, the tools currently in place to protect them, and suggestions for improving their status.

Anthony E. LaCroix Detailed Discussion of Feral Cat Population Control

Controversy has arisen over how best to deal with populations of feral cats. While cat advocates fight against killing cats, bird advocates and others see them as destructive to protected species. Legal issues of property ownership, causation, and classification of cats are central to the question of human liability for feral cats.

Anthony E. LaCroix Brief Summary of Feral Cat Population Control

This is a brief overview of feral cat population issues. Opposing viewpoints on cat control are presented. Issues of legal liability for cat predation are explored.

Matthew G. Liebman Detailed Discussion of Exotic Pet Laws

This paper examines state and local statutes and regulations regarding private possession of captive wildlife, or exotic pets. It also discusses the policy and constitutional issues surrounding these regulations.

Matthew G. Liebman Overview of Exotic Pet Laws

This overview examines the pertinent laws that govern ownership of exotic pets. It also discusses the public safety and health issues implicated by exotic pets.

Matthew G. Liebman Brief Summary of Exotic Pet Laws

This brief summary examines the issues that affect ownership of exotic pets. It also discusses the type of laws that regulate such ownership.

Alyce Miller and Anuj Shah Invented Cages: The Plight of Wild Animals in Captivity

The rate of private possession of wild animals in the United States has escalated in recent years. Laws at the federal, state, and local levels remain woefully inadequate to the task of addressing the treatment and welfare of the animals themselves and many animals “slip through the cracks,” resulting in abuse, neglect, and often death. This article explores numerous facets of problems inherent in the private possession of exotic animals.

Kaela S. Sculthorpe Ethical Management of Invasive Species The Burmese Python Burmese pythons and other invasive species wreak havoc on local environments and threaten biodiversity globally. Beginning with an overview of the unique challenges posed by the Burmese python in Florida, this article addresses invasive species laws and management that currently exist both in the United States as well as across the globe. The current method for addressing the complications created by the pythons is to capture and destroy them. This process is not the most effective means of addressing biodiversity loss as Burmese python populations are now declining in its native habitat due to overexploitation. The following discussion proposes that these pythons not be captured and killed, but rather humanely captured then released back into its native habitat. This is a logical alternative because (1) capture and release is a more ethical solution and (2) capture and release promotes biodiversity. In addition to managing the current threat of these invasive species, countries must also work to prevent the future growth of unwanted populations. In order to successfully rid South Florida of the Burmese python, while preventing the future spread of invasive species, the laws that allow these invasions to happen must change. This article will explore state and federal controls regarding the management of invasive species as well as offer solutions to strengthening these protections.
Asia Siev Detailed Discussion of the Exotic Pet Trade

I. Introduction

The term ‘exotic pet’ is vague and nebulous. It contains anything from the common parakeet to a Bengal tiger. They are undomesticated, their genetics and traits have not been selectively chosen by humans for millennia like dogs or cats.
Jennifer L. Tilden Behind a Glass, Darkly

As wild populations of big cats continue to decline precipitously, concerns about the ethical and environmental considerations of keeping cats for entertainment have increased exponentially. The plight of the big cat has been brought forcibly into the international media spotlight following high profile incidents like the tiger attack on Roy Horn at Las Vegas’ Mirage Casino. However, for every big cat whose instinct makes the national news, many suffer in silence, sacrificed to entertain the masses. Often, this cruelty to animals is rationalized under the wide net of “education,” since many people still believe there is valuable information to be gained from viewing animals trapped behind bars.