The American Animal Hospital Association's Position on Wild Animals as Pets
The American Animal Hospital Association recommends that veterinarians discourage the keeping of wild animals as pets. When wild animals are kept as pets, the result may be often tragic for the animal and the owner. Wild animals are those not specifically bred over many generations to adapt to human confinement, company, or control. Lack of knowledge about behavioral traits, social needs, and proper nutrition of wild animals leads to inadvertent abuse. Furthermore, individuals exposed to captive wild animals may suffer from transmissible disease, injury, or death. This occurs when owners become overconfident with wild animals, either assuming the wild animals will remain as affectionate as adults as they were when they were young or believing they have tamed and trained the animals well enough to defuse their dangerous instincts.