Study: Exotic pets may be risky for children

While perusing the paper this morning, I came across the lifestyle section of the paper that shows a study concluding that exotic pets, which are increasingly becoming popular as household pets, may pose risk to children at home.

Some psychologists have concluded that children who have pets develop positive characters but there are some kinds of animals that parents should be wary of. For instance, tortoises are known to be carriers of salmonella that can easy be transferred to kids.

Some exotic pets such as iguanas and monkeys can cause scratches or may bite children can can cause allergies or transfer bacteria.

The study pointed out that almost all of American households have more than one pets. The study recommends that families having kids aged less than five should not keep exotic animals as pets.

It was also pointed out in the study that salmonella in kids that came from contacts with lizards and other reptilian pets constitute 11 percent of all cases recorded.
The study says that "Exotic animals imported to the United States have been associated with the introduction of infectious agents otherwise not present in the United States."

Now, I am thinking of just sticking to having traditional dogs and cats as pets. They are very kid friendly and its not a problem looking for veterinarians specializing in caring for them.

A trip to the zoo

I applaud teachers and schools that teach kids about kindness to animals. There are so much to be learned about animals and that one of the best places to learn about them is the zoo.

The last time I went to the zoo was six months ago when I brought my 6 year old son. I can see how amazed my son was looking at the monkeys hanging and playing from branch to branch. He loved the giraffe and their long necks. In fact my son enjoying feeing leaves to them that he fed and watched them eat for 30 minutes. The roar of the lions shocked my son a bit but later he learned it was a normal sound that those cats make.

My point here is that the zoo could be a good learning place for people to get a close encounter with the animals. But it is also a good place to teach people how not get animals from their natural habitats and place them in enclosures.

I know there is a price to pay for learning but there should be a balance. Zoo management should make sure that the environments of these wild animals are correctly simulated in their enclosures.