A tiger runs straight down the road, heading straight for the nearby neighborhood. All of a sudden, it lunges towards a person, mistaking it for danger. In the blink of an eye, bears, big cats, snakes, and other exotic animals surround the neighborhood. With no better choice, all of them get shot right in front of your eyes, sending the animals one step closer to extinction. This was what happened when Terry Thompson, an animal collector, released exotic animals into the public. How can we take this risk of putting our and wild animal lives in danger? People should not be allowed to keep exotic or wild animals as pets because they can be disruptive, they can harm or hurt you, your pets, and the people around you, and some people may abuse these animals. However, others disagree because some believe wild animals can protect and keep you safe.

To begin with, exotic animals can be very chaotic, disruptive, and disturbing. Exotic animals in the wild aren’t used to living with humans, and can be very disruptive because of their past wild lifestyle. For instance, in “Wild Animals Aren’t Pets” by USA TODAY, paragraph 4 states, “With animals running loose and darkness closing in…” This shows how exotic and wild animals will be disruptive because they have nothing stopping them from running around, and living in the wild requires exotic and wild animals to run from predators. Running is second nature to the animals, and in this case, they were running from humans. Similarly, “Animal Snoops: The Wonderous World of Wildlife Spies” by Peter Christie states in paragraph 7, “…wildlife sounds and signals are often loud or bright enough that it is easy for others to listen to.” In other words, exotic or wild animals can be disruptive and disturbing because you can see and hear everything the animals are doing, and the sound may disturb you. We need to remember that animals make these sounds as it is their way of survival.

Secondly, exotic or wild animals can harm you, your pets, and even the people around you. Exotic and wild animals are very cautious about everything. We need to keep in mind that if an animal in the wild makes one wrong move, it could cost them their life. Therefore, even if we are very cautious and careful, animals can still attack us if they sense danger. For example, in “Wild Animals Aren’t Pets,” it states in paragraph 6, “…a Connecticut woman was mauled and disfigured by a neighbor’s pet chimp.” This illustrates the danger of exotic and wild animals because we have no way of absolute safety to ourselves and the people around us. This danger is shown further in paragraph 6 of the same text when it states “Last year, a caretaker was mauled to death by a bear owned by a Cleveland collector.” This means that a bear killed its own caretaker which it knew and saw before. This proves how even experienced people with exotic animals such as collectors can’t ensure safety either. Animals have a natural instinct to protect themselves and to escape, and there is no way to completely remove it. As shown above, exotic and wild animals can harm you, your pets, and the people around you.

Lastly, many people abuse exotic and wild animals. Many people keep exotic and wild animals as pets and for commercial reasons. However, some keep them to harm themselves. For instance, in paragraph 4 of “Wild Animals Aren’t Pets,” it states, “…Terry Thompson opened the cages on his Zanesville farm, springing dozens of lions, tigers, bears, and other wild creatures before killing himself.” In other words, Thompson sent wild and exotic animals into the public, endangering humans and forcing people to cause harm to animals. This demonstrates how people like Thompson, such as collectors, can intend to harm animals and abuse them, even if they don’t do it directly. This can cause harm to exotic or wild animals and humans.

Additionally, in “Let People Own Exotic Animals” by Zuzana Kukol, she states in paragraph 2 that “He had a criminal record and animal abuse charges. What Thompson did was selfish and insane; we cannot regulate insanity.” This illustrates the danger of allowing people to own wild animals because some people, like Terry Thompson, carry charges and an intent to abuse wild animals and potentially harm humans. Many times, it can be too late when we realize the intent of abusive animal owners, like Terry Thompson. As can be seen, many people may abuse wild and exotic animals.

Some people disagree and believe that exotic or wild animals can protect and keep people safe. However, when you look at the facts, exotic or wild animals pose a risk to humans even if tamed or owned as a pet. For instance, “In 2009, a 2-year-old Florida girl was strangled by a 12-foot-long Burmese python, a family pet that had gotten out of its aquarium.”(Wild Animals Aren’t Pets) This clearly shows the risks of owning exotic or wild animals because it demonstrates how exotic or wild animals may harm anyone, even their own caretakers or owners, even if they aren’t a danger.

People should not own exotic or wild animals. It is risky and dangerous to allow people to own exotic or wild animals because they can be disruptive, harmful to others, and could be subject to abuse. Imagine a world where anyone could own any animal. Animals would be all around the world, death rates would increase, and the natural animal world would die, all because of one rule change. If we as a society allow people to own exotic or wild animals, the consequences will be unimaginable.