Wisconsin's Exotic "PETS"

[AJE]

Exotic Pets Damage Ecosystems

We've all heard stories of scary urban pets: huge snakes lurking in the plumbing or alligators in the sewers. While many of these are urban legends, the scenarios are not that far-fetched.

Reptiles seem to be over-represented in the released or escaped pets category. It is not uncommon for snakes returned to the wild to survive for a time being, probably because they tend to find a quiet place to hide and can go a long time between meals.

Like my forum on what happened with a Manitowoc County teen-->


"Snakebite in Your Own Bed"

Many snakes find their way to the wild just because they are escape artists, but some are likely released because they have become too large, unmanageable, and it is nearly impossible to find a new home. Every so often news stories crop up of constrictors being spotted in unlikely neighborhoods (and often suspected in the disappearances of neighborhood pets). We often hear stories from the warm regions of the US.

Other exotic animals such as non-domestic cats are also troublesome since they could pose a risk to other pets in the neighborhood, or even people.

Ecosystem Damage: Invasive Species

Invasive species wreak havoc

Given the right animals in the right environment, released exotic pets do sometimes find success and colonize in the wild. However, this is often an ecological or agricultural disaster. There are numerous examples of "Invasive Species" cases where an introduced plant or animal has become established to the extent where it "takes over" an ecosystem, diminishing native populations. An example is our Zebra MusslesInvasive species can cause problems by preying on native species, competing for limited resources, or by introducing parasites and diseases not normally found in the area. Only a few of the most dramatic cases of invasive species can be attributed to the pet trade, but there are a few isolated locations where released animals have become established and caused damage. Red eared sliders are quite adaptable at colonizing lakes or ponds, and they often thrive at the expense of other species. Parakeets have successfully colonized some areas to the detriment of native species and agricultute. Giant African Land Snails are considered a huge risk of becoming an invasive species due to their voracious appetites and amazing reprductive rates. Warmer climates are often more hospitable to invaders. For example, iguanas and Burmese pythons appear have established populations in Florida. Iguanas are doing a fair amount of damage to the local vegetation as well as becoming a nuisance, and burmese pythons are feeding on local wildlife and becoming a major concern in the Everglades. Another example is the situation with chameleons in Hawaii.

Regardless of whether these exotic pets returned to the wild are a danger or a mere nuisance, many people do not agree that these animals should be kept as pets in the first place, and the return of these pets to the wild is ammunition in the fight to restrict the keeping of exotic pets. Please be responsible, and never return your exotic pets to the wild!

[AJE]

Alligator Shot...in Wisconsin!
DNR Thinks Milwaukee Visitor May Have Been a Pet


MyFox N.E. Wisconsin | Alligator Shot...in Wisconsin!

[Lita06]

I think this is not right, they are not so dangerous if we feed them as a pet from the little ones. It will adjust with us as our family members.

[CarolsCritterCare]

Actually it is wildlife. Wildlife will always have that natural instinct to attack when feel threatened.

You need special permits and licenses to keep these kinds of pets.

In April 2003, Rock City Pub in Green Bay, Wisconsin was visited by Jasper, a black-capped Capuchin monkey, whose owner, Tracie Cornelius, liked to bring him along on her trips to the bar. Frightened by another patron, Jasper sprinted out the back door and into the streets of the city. What followed was a citywide race to find the monkey between Cornelius and the city’s animal control officer, who promised to seize the monkey since Cornelius lacked a permit to keep the exotic animal. Ultimately, Jasper’s owner found him first and secretly moved the monkey to a location outside the city limits, avoiding the permitting requirement of the ordinance. After being denied a permit to keep him, and after losing a protracted battle against the Green Bay city council to change the regulation, Cornelius and Jasper moved to a suburb that allowed monkeys as pets.

Since much of the trade in exotic pets occurs on the black market or over the internet, it is difficult to determine exact statistics of such incidents. However, the statistics that do exist are startling. See, e.g., Richard Farinato, The Whims and Dangers of the Exotic Pets Market, Humane Society of the United States, at Page Not Found | The Humane Society of the United States (last accessed Sept. 1, 2004). With regard to animals kept as exotic pets in the U.S., the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, an alliance of animal protection groups and wildlife professionals fighting the trade in exotic pets, estimates the following numbers: 5,000-7,000 tigers (more than the wild population in Asia), 10,000-20,000 large cats, 17.3 million birds, 8.8 million reptiles, and at least 3,000 great apes. CWAPC Fact Sheet, Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, at http://cwapc.org/education/download/...actsheets1.pdf (last accessed August 6, 2004).

[CarolsCritterCare]

The Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition releases a monthly report of incidents including human injuries and fatalities, animal injuries and fatalities, confiscations, and escapes. For April 2003, the same month as Jasper’s escape, CWAPC reported 4 human fatalities, 93 animal fatalities (most from a single California faux-sanctuary), 17 confiscations, 4 escapes (Jasper is not mentioned), and one indictment of an individual for selling lion and tiger meat. Captive Wild Animal Report: March 31 to April 30, 2003, Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, at http://cwapc.org/news/IncidentReportApril2003.pdf (2003). For the two-month period including the time when Clayton Eller was mauled, CWAPC reported one human fatality in the U.S. (Clayton), four human injuries, six U.S. animal fatalities, 179 confiscations (most from a private breeder in Texas), and eight escapes. Captive Wild Animal Report: November-December 2003, Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition, at http://cwapc.org/news/IncidentReportNovDec2003.pdf (corrected and updated Feb. 20, 2004). However, these statistics are somewhat imprecise since several of the reported incidents involved private zoos, unaccredited sanctuaries, and other institutions that blur the line between commercial possession and private possession.

[CarolsCritterCare]

Not surprisingly, exotic animals frequently carry exotic diseases. In the spring of 2003, an outbreak of monkeypox occurred throughout the Midwest among individuals exposed to prairie dogs. Centers for Disease Control, Update: Multistate Outbreak of Monkeypox --- Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin, 2003, Mortality & Morbidity Wkly. Rep. 52(27), 642-646 (July 11, 2003), available at Update: Multistate Outbreak of Monkeypox --- Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin, 2003. This outbreak caused the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to severely restrict the rodents as pets. 21 C.F.R. § 1240.63 (2004). The monkeypox problem also spurred several states to establish further regulations of exotic pets. For example, in Indiana, where at least seven residents contracted the disease, the state Board of Animal Health considered permanently banning the animals as pets, though as of the time of this writing no such regulations were in place yet. Diana Penner, Indiana Weighing Exotic Pets Rules; Monkeypox Cases Prompt Animal Health Board to Look at Limits on Sales, Distribution, Indianapolis Star, Sept. 8, 2003, at 1B. The West Virginia legislature’s recent creation of an animal health control board to oversee exotic pets is directly attributable to the monkeypox scare from pet prairie dogs. Kris Wise, All Not Welcome in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia; Lawmakers Want Board to Monitor Exotic Pets in State Legislature, Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia), Mar. 12, 2004, at P6A. An outbreak of tularemia has also been attributed to commercially traded prairie dogs. Abdu F. Azad, Prairie Dog: Cuddly Pet or Trojan Horse?, Emerg. Infect. Dis. 10(3), ¶1 (Mar. 2004), available at CDC - Prairie Dog: Cuddly Pet or Trojan Horse?.

[CarolsCritterCare]

The risk of zoonotic diseases (those that can be transmitted from animals to humans) from exotic animals is of special importance because of the fact that they are non-native.

While the diseases may be somewhat harmless in their natural context, their introduction into populations that have not evolved to be resistant poses special dangers.
Example; B virus is harmless in monkeys, yet fatal in humans. The outbreak of monkeypox in prairie dogs (and subsequently in humans) was traced back to giant Gambian rats imported from Africa.

While the disease was balanced in its original environment, its introduction into a new context caused it to spread among unprepared species.

[CarolsCritterCare]

A few federal laws, such as the Endangered Species Act, implicate a private citizen’s right to possess wild animals as pets, though the focus of this paper is state and local control. For a good overview of relevant federal laws, see Nicole G. Paquette, The Status of Captive Wild Animals in the U.S.: An Overview of the Problem and the Laws, Animal Protection Institute, at http://www.api4animals.org/1578.htm (2003).

Since regulations at the federal level are significantly limited by Article I of the Constitution, the real ability to regulate private possession of captive wild animals occurs at the state and local level.

Exotic pet regulations vary from state to state. Some states have a complete ban on exotic pets, other states simply require permits for their possession, and some states have no regulations whatsoever.

Fourteen states have complete bans on at least most of the pets considered exotic. In essence, a ban entirely prohibits private possession of captive wildlife, unlike other regulations which only limit or condition private ownership.

Some states do not completely ban exotic pets, though they do seek to monitor them within their borders. These states have created licensing rules to regulate exotic pets by giving the authority to state agencies to issue permits for animals deemed sufficiently safe. These permit rules can ensure at least some degree of public safety and animal welfare. These regulations go by different names: some states issue “permits,” others issue “licenses,” and others issue “registration certificates,” though there is no practical difference

A third important variable in exotic pet laws is the consequences for violation of the statute, in both human and animal terms. The offending owner may be fined, imprisoned, or deprived of the animal. The animal herself may be confiscated, euthanized, or sent to a safer environment, such as a wildlife sanctuary.