Quote Originally Posted by anatess View Post
I don't understand this argument. I've lived with a monkey that has not and never had ripped somebody's face off. Threw poop, yeah. But not rip people's face off or bite or attack or whatever. Owning a pet monkey where I grew up in the Philippines is pretty common. And all the monkey-owners that I know of still has their faces intact. And there was just that news in Las Vegas where a boy almost got eaten by a burmese python and then my brother-in-law owns one that has never tried to eat any human. And of course, there are all the pit bull horror stories and my neighbor whose pit bull is better behaved than my other neighbor's poodle.

So, tell me again what the difference is? Or, maybe you're saying that there is no difference? Primates, burmese pythons, and pit bulls should all be banned? Enlighten me. And don't use the argument about primates not domesticated whereas pit bulls are. If we are to ban all non-domesticated pets, I would have to give up my African Gray parrot, the snakes, the hamsters, the rats, and the cichlids. My dog is the only thing I can keep. And I submit that cats being domesticated is questionable.
House cats are domesticated, it's accepted worldwide as such.

I agree that arguments about the danger of primates can be very well related to the danger of snakes, and it is an argument I generally throw out the window. I'm also open-minded to monkeys as pets. There are plenty of places in the world that seem to have a fairly substantial number of pet monkeys.

However, on the subject of dangerous animals.. Do you think that tigers, african elephants, and brown bears should be legal to own? At some point, the argument of an animal being too dangerous does make a bit of sense. I would bet most people on these boards would readily accept some kind of venomous regulations(not outright banning, but require licensing). I know I don't want to see rattlesnakes available at any city petshop for some irresponsible kid to buy because it's "cool".

As I have stated before, I don't believe any apes should be kept by private citizens, because no one is equipped to adequately take care of them, and the dangers they pose (both through physical assault and the diseases they carry) far exceeds the dangers posed by any other animal currently kept by individuals. I feel safer around black mambas, estuarian crocs, african elephants, tigers, bears, you name it, than I would around a large male orang or chimp.