Topics in medicine and surgeryIntroduction–Welfare Issues Concerning Exotic Pet Medicine
Section snippets
A Conservation Approach?
Who are the ethical stakeholders to be taken into consideration? The animal is paramount of course but the owner/caregiver has an important part as do those earning their living through the trade in exotic species. And though the concept of harvesting exotics from the wild is an anathema to many, in some cases it can be of great utilitarian value, increasing the ethical standing not only of the individual animal brought and kept, but also the survival chances of others of the same species and
A Cognitive Approach?
There are those who would say that a mere reptile, a bird-brained avian, or a pestilential rat or mouse do not need or deserve care from us. Maybe first we need to look at their cognitive status, to show that these derogatory thoughts are inappropriate. Perhaps the best place to start would be the birds. Amazon parrots, often maintained as individuals, live in the wild in large flocks, interacting in some locations with many different birds and in others in single species groups. For many
References (28)
Farm animal welfare: the five freedoms and the free market
Vet J
(2001)- et al.
Novel object test: examining nociception and fear in the rainbow trout
J Pain
(2003) Pain and nociception in reptiles
Vet Clin North Am Exot Anim Pract
(2011)The case for wild animals as pets
Vet Med Small Anim Clin
(1969)- et al.
The case against wild animals as pets
Vet Med Small Anim Clin
(1969) The unsuitability of non-domesticated animals as pets
Vet Rec
(1972)‘Exotic’ not always ‘unsuitable’
Vet Rec
(1976)Animal welfare: concepts and measurement
J Anim Sci
(1991)Animal Welfare: Limping Towards Eden, UFAW Animal Welfare Series
(2005)The science of animal suffering
Ethology
(2008)