by Kristin Jackman

Created on: June 09, 2009   Last Updated: June 12, 2009

In 2008, "Travis the Chimp" became a widely recognized symbol of the reasons why wild animals should never be kept as pets. His natural instincts took over and ultimately caused apprehensible injuries to an innocent woman, as well as the end of his own life. I bring this up simply to show that even though many people are keen and educated enough to understand what it means to abuse an animal, few rarely think that displacing a creature who normally and idealistically would thrive in an alternate habitat, can also lead to a form of abuse that more often than not is brushed under the rug until someone gets hurt. Yes, abuse involving physical attacks and restrictions against domesticated and wild animals is devastating and wrong, but I wonder who ever considers the subtle alternative of unwarranted relocation by an owner who isn't ready for that amount of responsibility.

Travis the Chimp is just one of many prime examples of why we should never attempt to domesticate wild animals. Historically, chimpanzees and other primates are hunter-gatherers and/or scavengers. Though very intelligent and capable of adapting to human interaction, they will also resort to what they know best. Attempting to disrupt their instincts by dressing them up for commercials or TV shows, or feeding them so-called 'people food' and sheltering them from outside interactions with other members of their species, can sometimes be more psychologically devastating to them than any level of verbal or physical abuse.

In 2007, a tiger at the San Francisco zoo, after being taunted by a group of young men, managed to do the impossible: she jumped vertically from her enclosure and mauled one of the young boys. The child eventually died and subsequently the tiger was killed to prevent further attacks. Later investigation confirmed that the boys had inadvertently stressed the animal, which led to it resorting to its territorial instincts, causing it to go on the attack to defend what it felt was threatened. Adrenaline in animals is a very dangerous cocktail, and this goes to show that a temper, no matter the living creature behind it, is a temper nonetheless.

Domesticated animals too can lash out and do the unthinkable. In early 2000, two lawyers in the San Francisco Bay area were charged in the murder of a neighbor who was attacked and killed by their classified 'dangerous' breed of dogs. Both individuals faced serious jail time and, instead of accepting responsibility and admitting to the unauthorized

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