stop the exotic pet trade
Help Us Save the Meerkat!
It takes a special kind of moron to look at a TV commercial depicting wild animals to think “Yup, I think one of those would look great stuffed in a cage in my living room.”So meerkats are the next species to fall victim to people’s infuriatingly whimsical desires. In response to this, the Captive Animals’ Protection Society a.k.a. CAPS, has launched a new campaign to discourage people from buying meerkats as pets. CAPS says,“Meerkats are found only in Southern African deserts and are highly sociable, living in colonies of up to 30 individuals (…) Early separation in captivity between mother and young can lead to behavioural problems for the pups later on.”
CAPS visited many stores which were selling meerkats as pets and none [of the retailers] were concerned about potential buyer’s experience or knowledge relating to how to care for meerkats. Even people within the zoo and exotic pet trades have been speaking out against keeping meerkats as pets - particularly when kept individually;
“They are burrowing animals so will damage a house easily, ripping up carpets, urinating to scent mark and destroying anything they can (…) solo meerkats tend to actually go insane from anxiety, and many seriously self-harm. There are stories of lone meerkats actually chewing their own paws off”.
Sounds delightful. If you take a few minutes to watch the video below, it’ll serve as reminder of where meerkats truly belong and that’s not in a home, in a cage or in any zoo. Please help CAPS stop this cruel and unnecessary trade of these precious animals by visiting their site here, or going direct to the campaign site, here.
Thank you!
(Sasha)
