The growing animal rights movements that perpetuate the current anti-captive animal sentiment wish to alter public attitudes about animal captivity to such an extent that a child dreaming of becoming a zoo keeper when they grow up will be accused of arrogance and oppression. Now and more than ever, people are viewing the separation of humanity from animals as ‘progressive’ and a necessary change for our society. Defending the real merits of zoos and pet ownership against them can be an exhausting endeavor.
While under constant attackdomestically for choosing to keep non-domesticated pets, the angry sentiment has also spread to the international level; especially in Australia in which the entire continent is on lock down from having such a pleasure. Steve Irwin, once inspiring many and often celebrated for his contributions toward awareness in conversation issues is now having his televised methods questioned by some, to the dismay of those who respect the popular figure, exclaiming phrases like “blame the stupid Americans”. While in the past, some people expressed discomfort with Irwin’s excessive handling of snakes and other reptiles, Tim Harrison, who made an appearance in the documentary The Elephant in the Living Room, is accusing his show of having a far more significant, cultural impact.
Tim Harrison
Who is Tim Harrison?
That was the question on my mind a few days ago. Before viewing The Elephant in the Living Room I had never seen or heard of him, and in that film he basically came off to me as an uninvolved ‘public safety officer’ who really didn't seem like such a bad guy when he helped build a better cage for a privately owned lion in the film. I now realize the depth of his involvement with exotic pets and observable agenda.
If there’s one thing that the exotic pet controversy has taught me, it’s that everyone has a motivation for their involvement with it. Carole Baskin’s reason is for having the ability to run her animal facility, unharmed by animal rights fanatics while simultaneously receiving praise and accreditation as a high end ‘sanctuary’ after her failure to become accredited with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Tippi Hedren (of The Birds fame) is another semi-ex-exotic pet owner that now condemns the practice and runs a similarly praised animal ‘sanctuary’ zoo. And then there’s myself, an unapologetic pet owner that would like to continue doing what I’m doing as I love it and feel as though other people’s opinions of me should not control my life.
And now we have Tim Harrison, who is overtly and obviously looking for praise and celebrity status, labeling himself a “wildlife warrior” in
his books describing his work and hosting an anti-exotic pet website (Outreach for the Animals, which ‘assists’ exotic pets in need in Ohio) that boasts about every inkling of his successes; everything from lovingly describing each of his television appearances to that of his martial arts titles (who cares?). You cannot scroll down the page of his website without being chased by an image of him giving a serious look toward the reader as though on the cover of a Die Hard DVD. Steve Irwin himself could not attest to such self-celebration. He is also an ex-exotic pet owner; of not a bird or ferret, but an African lion that he negligently purchased without the proper facility. He, like many exotic pet owners, is self-taught in his animal-handling experience with no formal education.
his books describing his work and hosting an anti-exotic pet website (Outreach for the Animals, which ‘assists’ exotic pets in need in Ohio) that boasts about every inkling of his successes; everything from lovingly describing each of his television appearances to that of his martial arts titles (who cares?). You cannot scroll down the page of his website without being chased by an image of him giving a serious look toward the reader as though on the cover of a Die Hard DVD. Steve Irwin himself could not attest to such self-celebration. He is also an ex-exotic pet owner; of not a bird or ferret, but an African lion that he negligently purchased without the proper facility. He, like many exotic pet owners, is self-taught in his animal-handling experience with no formal education.
Harrison claims that he has noticed a trend in owners keeping exotic animals, speaking of how recently, calls for help pertaining exotics have increased tenfold (yet little information is given on how many of these calls actually resulted in real dangerous animals caught or dealt with). Yet I have noticed a trend in individuals looking to opportunistically benefit from people’s fear of them.
So of course, when he received backlash from Steve Irwin admirers on a recent episode of Sunday Night for stating, indefinitely, that entertainers such as Irwin and other similar presentations are responsible for the so-called surge in exotic pet interest, he rushed to defend himself on his website, as did Bob Irwin, the late Steve Irwin’s father (it includes a lovely disdainful comment against sugar glider owners).
Source: Icon Images
There is one thing Tim Harrison forgot to factor into his analysis of ‘the problem’.
So-called ‘dangerous’ exotic pets aren’t the only animals that have allegedly increased in popularity. Tim has not assessed the strong possibility that the popularity of all animals may be rising as well. Other ‘exotic pets’ like birds, pot-bellied pigs, guinea pigs, fish, reptiles (that are harmless and certainly not venomous), and even dogs (which I believe is indicated by the slight rise in dog bites) have all recently risen in popularity as additions to human households around the same time frame as exotic pets. More exotic pet veterinarians are appearing as a result, and while they say that they see ‘exotic pets’ they actually mean ferrets, parrots, rabbits, and other common small pets, not tigers and other large, dangerous carnivores (as the exotic pet detractors try to scare the public into believing that the ‘exotic pet trade’ mainly consists of).
Does Tim actually believe that Steve Irwin, Jeff Corwin, and other similar entertainers are responsible for people’s interest in keeping birds? Or fish? I’m not going to state too many absolutes in complicated sociological questions, but one thing that seems obvious to me, is that as interest and appreciation of animals goes up (for whatever reason) so would interest in keeping such animals as pets. Because, despite what animal rights activists will try and torment you into believing, most people keep pets because they love them and desire to be close to them, despite the dismay of those who have the ideological belief that the non-human don’t belong in homes.
--Here is an Anti-exotic pet publication from 1975--
Keeping a pet tiger is a venture not suited for most people, and probably not for many that currently own them as well, but it can be done, and should be able to be done by those that can offer homes to the displaced carnivores.
The Increase of Owning Large, Dangerous Carnivores
I fail to see how Crocodile Hunter-esque programming has anything to do with this alleged rise in the ownership of animals like lions and bears. I think that is Harrison’s more ridiculous claim. In fact, I don’t recall too many of Irwin’s programming featuring him play tigers, and to a far lesser extent, interacting with them. Newer programs featuring the controversial Dave Salmoni, such as Into the Pride fit that bill. Yet still, attacks by ‘pet’ or privately owned big cats, bears, and venomous snakes are undeniably rare. You can see this for yourself by tracking the number of important incidents regarding such animals. As a public safety officer, I’m sure Tim also knows that attacks from exotic animals of any kind against the uninvolved public are even rarer (an exotic cat as of current hasn’t escaped and attacked a neighborhood child). Most of the attacks and fatalities happen with the owners themselves.
Just as internet ‘phishers’ create pathetic-looking fake emails to lure the less intelligent into clicking their malicious links, you are also bound, with any animal trade, to have a few people who are not the brightest, reckless, and lack enough common sense (like Tim Harrison) in buying big cats they are ill-equipped for. There is no ‘culture’ of private large exotic pet owners, just isolated examples of people (like shown on The Elephant in the Living Room) that through unique ways end up with these animals. There are also private owners that are affiliated with zoo work, or run the zoo from their own property (many are not accredited by the AZA, so are often attacked for this reason), and there are unfortunate scenarios of failed private 'sanctuaries' whose owners have succumbed to hoarding tendencies. If laws made it harder (not impossible) for ‘anyone’ to buy or obtain such animals, I’m certain we’d see a significant decrease in an already small number of bad owners. Again, ignorant dangerous animal owners may have increased, but they are still absurdly small in numbers, as any objective statistical analysis will show. Reptiles (and in effect, venomous reptiles) are another story; they are completely unrelated to dangerous mammal ownership.
Pet Ownership Changes Attitudes toward Wildlife
I can buy that it’s possible Steve Irwin-esque programs could have increased interest in reptiles, which inadvertently would also lead to an interest in owning them as pets just as viewing lions may lead to interest in visiting Africa to view them. And who can blame them? It is an enriching, satisfying, and educational hobby in which you get to reside near such impressive life forms.
Steve Irwin’s programs have nurtured more interest in reptile conservation, and I would say without a doubt that general interest in conservation will probably lead to an increase in admiration for animals, and one of the more basic reasons pet ownership is desired is for the ultimate understanding of a the selected species. Humans are typically conditioned to appreciate less-scaley, warm-blooded animal counterparts as these animals remind us of ourselves, yet positive portrayals of reptiles have lead toward increased interest in raising them as pets just as we do so with dogs, cats, bunnies, and hamsters. Is this a horrendous thing?
I also believe that increased ownership of these animals will lead to more interest in the welfare of these animals, not only in the ‘pet trade’ but in conservation-related issues of which they usually receive little attention compared to tigers, elephants, and other megafuana mammals (an unfortunate side effect is the decreased interest in the welfare of the animals that are fed to reptiles for food). In fact, zoos often get accused by ‘anti-caps’ of only promoting the conservation of popular animals, yet this same group of people fail to see the benefits that ‘herp’ keepers can contribute. Now we have people to call when a snake turns up where it doesn’t belong to safely apprehend the critter, instead of some ignorant, over-reacting person smashing it with a 2x4. I am a strong believer in the emotional education that animal captivity offers, which is distinct from the education of basic factoids (the cheetah runs x miles per hour) that most people associate with it.
Source: Cindy Andrie
Animals in Captivity
Zoos and wildlife exhibitors are facing similar criticism for ‘encouraging the public to keep wild pets’ based on their displays of captive animals. For one thing, this mentality that we have the inability to have minds of our own needs to disappear. Simply seeing an animal or watching another person handle it may foster an interest in that animal, and such an interest may lead to pet ownership. As long as this is done properly, this isn’t a problem. Logic denotes that along with an increase in pet ownership rates, the rates of bad owners will increase with them. This applies to all animals, and human animals. Impulse buys are done when puppies are seen in windows, and ill-equipped people might be attracted to animals that are out of their league, financially and/or educationally. It’s a sad fact of life, but banning those who love their pets and treat them well from being able to continue their life’s work, denying them their ‘niche’ in life, is equally horrendous.
- Banning Exotic Pets Is Senseless
"Exotic" animal bans are sweeping the nation with no signs of ceasing. The practice of privately owning exotic animals has come under fire more than ever before thanks to the Terry Thompson Ohio massacre. How do people justify exotic pet bans?
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