Why We Must Not Tame Wild Animals

It's always so terribly, awfully, sad to see a wild animal come in that's been tamed. This little girl was taken by a family as a tiny thing, and she is hopelessly tamed. So many people don't see that as a bad thing, but I can tell you first hand that for the animal it means that there are only two choices: Euthanasia, or life in a cage. This girl escaped from her "owners". Because she didn't want to live with people. Starvation brought her back to a home where she walked in, hungry. She was so fortunate she wasn't shot out there, or killed by a predator. Because taming her cost her all of her survival skills, and she is forever helpless in the wild. The family didn't understand that she will bite, or even attack savagely, when she is frightened. She will spend her days trying to escape as an adult. She will crave a mate. She will act wild when she comes into heat, and no vet can give her a rabies shot without a permit for her. Their plan for their "pet" would never have ended well, for them or for her. But she wants to be wild, and she will never stop looking out of the bars of a cage wishing she could be free. She is lucky that the State will allow her to be placed in a zoo, and that she doesn't mind as much as most do, the presence of humans.. Often tamed wild animals are immediately euthanized, because there are limited numbers of spaces in zoos. But even life in a zoo can be hell for a wild animal. They are just wired to be free and she will struggle, no matter how well she is treated. Please, please, please..if you know anyone who says: "I wish I had a pet fox..squirrel..etc", please tell them it is the most selfish thing they could ever do to a wild animal. If a wild animal wanted to live with people, they wouldn't need a cage. For the next ten years or so, this girl will pay the price for the selfishness of that family. Every. Single. Day. While they are free to live as they want, she will look out of the bars, every day, at the freedom she can't have. (Via Umpqua Wildlife Rescue)