Category: Exotic pets

Keeping exotic pets

“Saving Britain’s Worst Zoo.”

BBC documentary “Saving Britain’s Worst Zoo” highlights what is so wrong with our attitude to zoos.

There shouldn’t be a ‘worst’ zoo in the UK in the first place.

BBC Wales and iPlayer are showing a documentary series “Saving Britains Worst Zoo” which depicts how a family buy a zoo called ‘Animalarium’ in Wales even though they admit “We didn’t have any idea of what we were doing.” There shouldn’t be a worst zoo in the first place if licensing authorities and inspectors were doing their job properly. So where were they and how can it be possible to allow such people to buy a zoo with dangerous animals? Do we really take public and animal safety so lightly.

“a place in the deepest depths of no-onesville very much like a zoo where species of a non-human form are kept and caged…and often escape”

ANIMALARIUM – Urban Dictionary definition.

In 2016 a zoo called Animalarium in the town of Borth, Wales came up for sale and was bought by a couple who by their own admission didn’t have any experience and within two years animals had escaped and died and they ran up a £350,000 debt. But sadly it appears few people see any problem or query how this could happen in our country of animal lovers with all our animal protection laws.

This is particularly so with the BBC, who appear to be encouraging such actions by not just showing one program but a whole series to advertise the zoo. The owners were interviewed on the BBC Breakfast show on the 23 July 2019 with smiles and commendation for their honesty as though they were some kind of heroes.

Borth Zoo or to use its hip name of Animalarium was sold by its owners of 15 years in 2016. In their media advertising of the sale they described who they were willing to sell to in this way:

“I would expect them to have at least some interest or experience and to research what running a zoo actually entails. The practical problems are a cross between running a boarding school and a prison. Anyone interested in the sale needs to have some experience of keeping exotic animals, but not necessarily from a zoo background as the staff are all experienced. Running a zoo is hard work but very rewarding.”

“We didn’t have any idea of what we were doing”

The family who bought the zoo were an “animal-mad couple” with three children who always wanted to live in Wales and were quoted as saying “we wanted a small petting farm to do animal and people therapy. We had 40 animals before we moved. We used to breed tortoises and had chickens, rabbits, chinchillas, everything. We didn’t have much of an idea what we were doing but everything I don’t know I research.” It would appear they also bought it as it had a nice two bedroom bungalow with sea views and of course they were animal lovers and had owned pets so had all the experience they needed to take on a zoo.

Should such animals be in the hands of people who do not what they are doing.

Their initial inept attempts at operating a zoo led to escapes and deaths of animals. In October 2017, a lynx escaped for 12 days before being shot in case it harmed “children.” A week later a staff member managed to strangle another lynx with a catch-pole (a rope noose on a pole) which was described as an accident but was probably due to lack of training in using such an implement. In the case of the escaped Lynx it was two days before they noticed it missing because the enclosure was apparently too overgrown to spot it. It seemed not to occur to them to search the enclosure in case it was sick, injured or dead.

At this point the local authority intervened and closed the zoo to the public for five months while they made over 26 improvements allegedly running up a debt of £350,000. Initially their licence to keep dangerous animals such as the lions and leopard was withdrawn but later reinstated. The zoo was obviously rundown when they bought it which doesn’t say much for the local authority licensing officers who should have been checking it. Inexplicably, the ban on keeping dangerous “category one” animals was then lifted by Ceredigion council as long as a qualified keeper was present. But why wasn’t there a qualified keeper in the first place?

The park’s owners claim that they act like a rescue centre for exotic animals and take in unwanted pets and animals from other zoos to provide them with a safe place to live for the rest of their lives. But how safe are their long term prospects.

One could pardon them on account of their naivety and put it all down as a steep learning curve, but at what cost. At least two lives of beautiful lynxes were lost while they learned on the job. Do we really take such lives so lightly. Should we be allowing the sale of zoos and similar animal attractions to anyone who feels they want to own one despite their experience and qualification. I blame the local authorities and lack of regulation for the deaths of the two lynxes.

Related articles

Vets and Exotic Pets

The British Veterinary Association (BVA), The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE)  and even the British Veterinary Zoological Society (BVZS) plus most other governing veterinary organisations worldwide have stated they are concerned about this burgeoning trade. They believe that ownership is a threat to native species, is a cause of population and habitat decline and that owners may not be able to care for them compromising their health and welfare. The animals can be a risk to human health as well as a danger to the public if they escape. Wild caught animals and birds are caused stress during capture, are poorly acclimatisation and suffer high mortality during transport and holding. So how come the trade and hobby continues?

NTCA’s – the veterinary professions’ acronym for exotic pets.

Vets have come up with the novel acronym of NTCA’s or ‘non-traditional companion animals’ to describe exotic pets which not only gives the impression that they can be described as suitable companion animals, but also gives their sanction to keep them.

“There are some species whose five welfare needs are so specialised they could rarely or never be met in a domestic environment. Other species should only be kept under licence or for defined and authorised conservation purposes.” We support the keeping of species as companion animals for which there is reasonable expectation based on published evidence and professional experience, that their five welfare needs can be met by suitably informed people. However, some NCTAs, such as reptiles, have exacting husbandry requirements, e.g. for humidity, lighting, nutrition and temperature, others such as birds have complex social, cognitive and nutritional needs, all of which must be fully researched and understood before acquisition’.

BVA Policy on exotic pets December 2015
Wild caught African Grey parrots being shipped in overcrowded containers destined for pet trade.
Veterinary profession does little to stem the trade.

Despite the fact that there is plentiful scientific evidence of the unsuitability of most exotic animals as pets and that the veterinary profession accepts that there is a need for some control, they appear to do little to stop it and are actively embracing this lucrative pet owning trend. It is particularly surprising as the profession prefers to look upon itself as a scientific body but in the case of exotic pets they choose not act on the evidence. They do not support any kind of ban choosing instead to suggest compiling lists of ‘suitability’ as well yet more research when all the evidence has been sitting there for years

The keeping exotic animals and their suitability has been a contentious subject for decades, but there has been little initiative to curtail it. Our desire to own something unusual results in the suffering and deaths of millions of animals worldwide, even before they get into the hands of inept owners. ‘Specialist exotic pet veterinarians’ have been quoted as stating that most of the illnesses, deaths and injuries they deal with are caused by the owners lack of understanding of the needs of the animals. These include inadequate diet, either too high or low heating and humidity, dehydration, lack of sufficient live food, poor handling and many other factors.

I have witnessed this first hand having been an animal health inspector at Heathrow Airport during the high point of the wild bird trade in the 1970’s and been part of a campaign to ban it. I watched birds and other animals being transported round the world destined for the pet trade dying in front of me in their hundreds. The trade in wild caught birds is thankfully over in Europe and America, but has been replaced by the reptile trade which is just as bad.

wild bird trade, cruelty to birds, pet bird trade, caged birds, exotic pets
Cages full of wild caught birds in Indonesia destined to spend their short lives in tiny cages. Photo: John Brookland/animalrightsandwrong.suk

Vets cash in on treating exotic pets.

Veterinarians have been quick to embrace the situation and provide for this lucrative pet owing trend by opening specialist referral exotic pet hospitals. These are staffed by veterinary surgeons who have seen the opening in the market and obtained a certificate qualifying them to treat exotic animals and even an extra three year course to be able to call themselves specialists. Many vets are taking this pathway because the numbers being kept and requiring treatment are constantly rising and there is a great demand for their services.

Treating exotic pets doesn’t come cheap and although it is laudable for vets to step in and alleviate the suffering, treating exotic pets doesn’t come cheap and it could be argued that many animals are left to die or are abandoned because owners cannot afford the fees. Of course the insurance companies want a part of the action and were quick to provide policies. None of this though is of help in the long-term as it only encourages the trade to continue.

There is no legitimate reason for these animals to be kept captive in a home environment and there is more than adequate scientific evidence available to warrant the banning of their ownership, particularly in the case of reptiles.  The potential for suffering and neglect is extreme and the numbers dying or being discarded is immense.

Why is it then that authorities worldwide are so slow at making any attempt to ban or restrict trade in them? Could it be anything to do with the fact that the trade composes a large part of the huge money-making pet industry which has a powerful lobby behind it to defend its continuance and because governments earn a lot of tax dollars and pounds because of it. What is needed is action rather than more research and compiling lists. Why can’t we stick to owning genuine companion animals – we have enough problems regulating them.