Ok...so, I just watched this fascinating documentary called "The Elephant In The Living Room" dealing with this issue, and it kind of brought up a lot of questions for me.

Is it "moral" or ok to take a wild animal from it's natural environment and try to raise it as a pet? Apparently it's very popular and very legal to do this in America. I mean...if you really think about it, common household pets such as cats & dogs didn't start out like that. They too, were once creatures of the wild. Us humans, brought them in our homes & our lives and began the whole pet "breeding" thing. Kinda messed up thing to do, but I'm a dog owner & I love them, so I can't judge.

One question that just seems to BAFFLE me to no end though, and maybe someone can help me out with this. Why is it ok to own a grown lion, tiger, mountain lion, venomous snake, etc... (basically something that could kill your family, and possibly escape and kill your neighbors in a matter of minutes), but you can't own a harmless pitbull?????

No, domestic animals are tamed, generations, and generations, and generations of selective breeding, and domestication, not just plucked from the wild and thrown into domestication.

Also, when they let these wild animals go into the wild they are not designed for (or the wild that is not designed for them), that creates an even bigger mess.

Just look at Florida and their python problem.

You can own a pitt, just depends on where you're at, like with the wild/exotic pets.

Yeah. I know. Lived in Florida since 2006. The state that is supposed to be all "environmentally friendly" is allowing people to abuse these poor wild animals.

My take on it is this. We've had pet dogs & cats since pretty much the beginning of time. They are mentioned in The Bible & in ancient times (Egyptian/Mayan/Aztec/etc...) so I think it was just kinda meant to be that we have these creatures as pets. Like you said...through years of selective breeding & domestication they are no longer considered "wild" even though they are "animals".

Not the case with ANYTHING other than a domesticated house cat or dog though. These animals have always been wild and have never known any other way, so I think we should respect that and leave it how it is. Unless it's a special case where a lion or something has to rescued from some other idiot that didn't know how to take tare of it, and just tried releasing back outside, then that would be okay for someone else to take that cat in, but they should ship it back to Africa, or India, or wherever eventually.

I think in those cases, zoos and refuges should care for the animals. Leave it the the professionals that know how to properly care for them. Especially with an animal whose paw is larger than your face, and the way the say "Hello" is to jump on you and kinda wrestle. All it takes is one small slip and you're done.

There's always pigs, cows and horses.

Those are not pets though. I was going to buy a cow as a pet, but they wouldn't let me, they said they're not pets.

I agree with you filmfreek. Did you see that movie with Anthony Hopkins who lived in the wild with the gorillas? He was a zoologist if I remember rightly. I will find out the name of the movie and post it.

Instinct is the name of the movie. Freaken amazing performance by the gorillas. They should have got an emmy award, lol.

It's not always legal in the US to own exotic animals. Some states have banned certain animals. Others require you to obtain a license to own certain animals.

You can own a pitbull around here, but not certain exotic animals.

Here's a site I found which lists the different laws for each state: http://www.bornfreeusa.org/b4a2_exotic_animals_summary.php

Even in places where you can own these animals, it tends not to work out and a sanctuary or some other place has to end up taking the animal.

They aren't exotic animals. Doesn't it depend on the zoning laws as to whether you can have farm animals?

Where I live is semi-rural, farm animals are allowed.

Some people have pigs as pets, and aren't horses considered pets?

IDK, maybe they just didn't want me to have a cow.

Most of it is about location. I don't agree with having a wild animal as a pet, and think the person needs to pay a chitload of money for one, especially since so many are happy to dump them when they get too big or dangerous.

Pigs, horses and cows make good pets. But again, they're domesticated and have been for a long time. A zebra wouldn't. They can be WAY more nasty. However, any of it is a matter of building trust.

And yes, filmfreek, I'm in total agreement about the BS regarding "pit bulls"

Say what you will....My pet Chinese Emperor scorpion "Fluffy"...was 8" long and 4" wide of scary coolness. Pretty low maintanence. Had a lure swivel super glued to her back so I could take her out to the park for a walk occasionally. Not everyone reacted well.

It is not safe to have a wild animal as a pet. Sometimes they revert to their wild behavior and attack humans. Why take an animal out of its natural environment and subject it to a situation that is foreign?