Capture of Wild Animals for the Pet Trade

Position

“The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) is opposed to the capture of wild animals to be kept or sold as pets.”

Background

A large proportion of wild animals captured for the pet trade are injured or die during capture and transportation to their eventual destinations. Some of these species are considered at risk of being endangered or becoming extinct. In some cases, capture also involves extensive habitat destruction and the indiscriminate injury/deaths of huge numbers of non-target species (e.g., marine tropical fish and corals).

Those animals that survive capture and transport are often unable to acclimatize fully to captivity, and will not adapt and become good pets. Information on the optimum care and feeding of many wild animal species is not readily available; therefore, the keeping of these animals as pets often results in unnecessary suffering and premature death. For these reasons, along with potential danger and public health concerns with some exotic pets, the CVMA cannot condone the trade in captured wild animals as pets.

(Revised July 2004)

(Formerly called “Keeping of Non-Domesticated, Wild Caught Animals as Pets”, also see “Keeping of Native or Exotic Wild Animals as Pet”)