The pet trade, regardless of whether it's an "exotic" pet or not, can be and sometimes is a nasty business; just like any other type of business, there will always be rotting apples in the bunch. It's identical to those who basically run vile and crowded puppy mills out of their own houses despite there being over 800 million dogs on the planet and at least 30% of those need homes. Bad apples all over.
People and alternative news sources alike love to rag on the herp community for.. Well, everything. But more specifically, they talk a lot about "big pet trade" and neglect to acknowledge that there are thousands of breeders worldwide that put a lot of time, and care into their husbandry and do really aim to satisfy both the customer and their reptiles alike. Not to mention that, obviously, a lot are captive bred and likely have been for a couple generations at minimum.
There are some things I would have gone my entire life without knowing had I not joined forums and handled snakes myself- these people have probably no experience with snakes, reptiles, and amphibians, yet have the audacity to diss an entire community of people who enjoy nothing more than to see their animals happy.
And then they watch shows like Tiger King, which just brings more attention to the people who are actually committing crimes against animals. Joe Exotic's park was completely full when they were cleared to open after quarantine and if that doesnt tell you how imbecilic people are then I'm not sure what would.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply With Quote