Keeping wild animals for public display, entertainment or as pets, as deprives them of the ability to freely engage in instinctual behaviours in their natural environment.
Even when bred in captivity, exotic animals retain the behavioural and biological needs that they would have in the wild.
They cannot be considered domesticated and they can suffer if they are confined in unnatural environments.
How you can help
Zoos
VHS is fighting to improve the conditions of animals living in zoos. Working with Zoocheck Canada, we have exposed poor conditions and called the Greater Vancouver Zoo to account for the welfare of animals in their care.
Aquariums
VHS has worked tirelessly to end the captivity of cetaceans (whales and dolphins). In 2019, Canada banned their captivity but they and other marine mammals continue to be held in aquariums around the world.
Exotic Pets
VHS opposes the sale and keeping of exotic pets. We have successfully campaigned for municipal bylaws that ban or restrict exotic pet ownership and sale, and have drawn public attention to the cruel wildlife trade.
Latest news
Welfare group documents exotic animal escapes, attacks
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/animals-on-the-lam-welfare-group-documents-exotic-animal-escapes-attacks-1.6918993 “In a bid to draw attention to the ongoing and dangerous problem of keeping exotic wildlife in captivity, either in zoos or as house pets, World Animal Protection Canada is building a new database and interactive online map to document all the events it can find.” Michèle Hamers, wildlife campaign manager for World Animal…
Burmese python seized from Chilliwack home by B.C. conservation officers
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/burmese-python-seized-chilliwack-home-bc-conservation-officer-service “Conservation officers have seized a nearly three-metre-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.” While this particular species of snake is illegal to keep in B.C., MANY other wild and exotic species are, in fact, legal to keep as pets. But wild and exotic animals, whether wild-caught or captive-bred, retain their complex social, physiological…
