Response to Kim

Kim asks, Should it be legal to keep exotic pets?

I wish I could answer yes to this question. I love animals and some of the exotic ones are the cutest, but that's no reason to keep them as pets. In most cases, the people who keep exotic pets for long periods of time know what they're getting themselves into. They understand the kind of habitat and care that the animal requires and hopefully how to handle it. However, there are always those people who get a monkey just because they think it looks cuddly only to find out that those animals require a great deal of care and supervision to be kept in a house.

Many of these pet owners just looking for an adventure with a wild animal don't keep their pets. They end up giving them away to a more experienced pet owner or having them put down because there is nobody to take them. This is sad for the animal, who was only behaving in its natural way. I think for the safety of these animals it should not be legal to keep exotic pets. This would disappoint owners of exotic pets who take sufficient care of their pets, but it saves the lives of many animals who were supposed to be a fun experiment that cost them their lives.

My question is: Do you think that animals who do nothing but exhibit natural behaviors that end up harming humans (i.e. a child being eaten by a bear when he jumps into the pen at the zoo) should be put down?