: Sale of animals on the www

[Guest guest]

PETA

 

One Web site, Wild Animal World, operated by Randy Davies, advertises animals

ranging from capuchin monkeys to chimpanzees to lions to kinkajous. Because

the Internet is virtually unregulated, it is a medium to which many animal

dealers are flocking.

 

The life that so-called " exotic pets " lead is far removed from that which

they would experience in their natural habitat. Big cats, primates, and

reptiles, for example, are not domestic animals, and their instincts remain

very much intact in captivity. A life in a backyard, basement, or garage cage

cannot even begin to meet these animals’ instinctual needs and desires, such

as seeking a mate, raising young, hunting, basking in the sun, and resolving

territorial disputes. Even simple but essential pleasures, like freedom of

movement and the ability to socialize with others of their own kind, are

often denied them altogether. Many exotic animals kept as pets develop

psychotic behaviors resulting from a life of confinement, such as

self-mutilation, head-bobbing, pacing, and coprophagia (playing with and

eating excrement).

 

Most of these animals end up being shuffled from one facility or home to the

next and often end up being sold to laboratories, where they undergo painful

and invasive tests, or are forced to live in horrendous conditions in

roadside zoos or curiosity displays. In fact, Davies aided in getting two

squirrel monkeys, who were destined to live in a glass enclosure, to a bar in

Hawaii. One of the monkeys, who was only 3 months old, died during shipment.

 

Please ask Qwest Communications, which hosts Wild Animal World at two

different locations, to drop the sites and set a policy against hosting sites

that are used to sell animals.

 

Richard C. Notebaert, Chair and CEO

Qwest Communications International, Inc.

1801 California St.

Denver, CO 80202

Tel.: 800-899-7780

Fax: 303-992-1724