Nonfiction Article RR #10- Killer Pets

  
    
     In the article "Killer Pets" the author, Blair Rainsford, explains that everyday more and more Americans are owning exotic animals as pets. Felicia Fresco is one of them, she owns a pet tiger, named Will, she says that raising a tiger is like raising a dog. The author also wants the reader to know that at first the animal may be calm and cute but at any moment the animal can attack its own owner. The places where having an animal is allowed is in Idaho, Nevada, Wisconsin, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Albania. They're allowed in many other countries too but you need a license or permit and in other countries some animals aren't allowed.

    There are about 15,000 non-human primates that are living in people's homes and their owners think it's totally normal. According to the article,"exotic-animal owners say they love having pets that surprise people" (Rainsford 1). This shows that the animal owners think that having an exotic animal as a pet is like having a dog, cat, or goldfish as a pet and they also like having the exotic animal as a pet to surprise people. Even though the exotic-animal pet owners not everyone agrees. The article tells us that "A zookeeper, named Jack Hanna, compares owning this type of pet to having a bomb in your home. You never know when it will explode"(Rainsford 1). This shows that having an exotic animal as a pet can be very dangerous, especially if a zookeeper thinks so since they take care of animals every day.

     In other people's point of view having an exotic animal is way cheaper than having any other pet and they also think it's not a bad idea. In the article it says, "It is also surprisingly easy to get an exotic pet. You can buy a tiger cub online for just $300. That's cheaper than some kind of dogs!" (Rainsford 1). This means that one of the reasons that people may buy exotic animals is because it's a better deal than buying any other pets. Although these pets may be cheaper most of them are dangerous and most of them can even kill you. According to the article,"In 2009, a pet chimp attacked his owner's friend. He bit off most of the woman's face. Hundreds of other wild pets have attacked or killed their owners" (Rainsford 2). This shows how much just a chimp can do so imagine what a bison, or a tiger can do.