Haven't seen the documentary - don't need to.
My experiences selling to and buying from people have confirmed my own negative view of the exotic pet industry. Many people who own reptiles - venomous or not - shouldn't.
The reasons are varied - lack of proper knowledge, lack of sufficient funds and a prevailing attitude that these animals are disposable all come to mind.
Yeah, you'll have a few people chime in here on how passionate they are about their animals, but come time to take one to the vet and spend some money on keeping the animal alive and all of a sudden that passion is tempered by a light wallet.
Many people buy exotics for the wrong reasons - impressing your friends is not a valid reason. Owning a perceived status symbol is also not valid, nor is a totem for being different.
Many people buy exotics without understanding the depth of care they require, or how to properly meet their needs.
And boy do we have our share of scammers and con men in the reptile biz.
I guess the good news is that the documentary you saw won't do much damage to the negative public view of exotic pet ownership - most people already have come to that point of view because this hobby does such a poor job of policing it's own.
Reply With Quote