Should the law restrict what animals can be kept as pets?

(10-05-2014, 10:43 PM)Happyflowerlady Wrote: I can see that having to get a permit to keep an exotic animal would be a good thing, and I certainly think that this should also include all of the constrictor snakes that people keep. It was only a few months ago that two children were killed by an escaped large snake. Any animal that can be considered dangerous if it escapes should be licensed and regulated. Any kind of large cat, lion, tiger, even a bobcat or lynx, should all either not be legal, or be strictly regulated to be sure that they can't escape and maul or kill someone.
Otherwise, I am basically against the government conntrolling all aspects of people's lives, and I do not want to see any unnecessary laws passed for people to have to live with. If someone is abusing an animal, or even neglecting it; there are already laws against that, and those would cover both the usual pets like cats and dogs, as well as the more exotic pets.

See the "permits for dangerous animals" is my problem. We do have really strict rules on what can and cannot be kept as pets in the UK and it is based pretty much on the grounds your post is although some of the smaller constrictors are freely for sale.

The problem is that the rules are based entirely on the human focus - it is "can this animal be a threat to people" and if the answer is considered to be no then it can be a pet without any other rules. What about from the other way around "can this animal be harmed by being a pet?" What about looking at what sort of care an animal needs and considering whether that is within the scope of an average pet keeper. Say with meerkats - they need to be kept in a group, have free access to largish outside area for digging, have a specialized diet, and need access to properly heated areas. They are not affectionate "pettable" creatures despite what they look like and are escape artists. Providing proper care for them is beyond the scope of your average pet owner and yet they can be freely bought by anyone without any licensing issues. This is the area I would like to see more rules in - not to protect the humans who are already protected but to protect the poor animals who suffer horribly just because their appearance suggests they would be a suitable pet.