A stamp I made in opposition to 'exotic pets'.
It isn't just snakes, before snake owners get up in arms; snakes are just the most common of exotic pets.
It could easily have been a wolf cub, a tiger, an iguana, the list goes on.

Im firmly opposed to exotic animals being kept as pets.
Yes, they're gorgeous, they're fascinating, they're interesting, but they do not belong in our living rooms.
What can a domestic environment possibly offer a snake?

Animals such as dogs, cats, rodents etc are human orientated, adaptable, and easy to provide for in a captive situation. They truely get as much out of the captive relationship as the owner does.
Can the same be said for exotics? What do they get from being in that glass box in your living room? What does a wolf get from being confined to a pen in the yard? What does a beautiful bird get from being caged?
All of this appears to be purely to appease our desire to own something odd and unusual.

Im NOT saying snake owners don't love their pets, Im not saying people who buy tiger cubs can't have some kind of bond with them, Im not even saying anyone who buys exotics as pets is a bad person.
Im simply saying I do not like seeing these animals captive, and feel they get next to nothing out of being so.

The RSPCA and several other large animal welfare organisations have long frowned upon the idea of captive exotics.

If I could not provide my rats with everything they'd have in a wild setting, I would not own rats. If I had to keep my cats locked in the house their entire life, I wouldn't own cats. Allowing an animal to live as natural a life as possible is important to me, and I believe animals deprived of natural activites become bored, neurotic or ill.
This is why I don't like to see an animal like a snake living in a glass box in the living room, having a terrified rat or mouse thrown in with it once a week in a vain attempt to emulate nature.

These animals don't belong in our homes. They are beautiful, they are fascinating; appreciate them from afar and don't hold them captive.

Im well aware some people will have things to say on this opinion, but this stamp was made for me to use, to display my feelings. Im not asking anyone else to use it.
Of course you can, if you agree with me.
If you don't, don't use it.

Comments disabled mainly to stop spamming.
I was recieving comments that were NOT intelligent debates, but merely abuse and spam. Im quite happy to debate this over notes, if you really want to, but I am not going to allow spamming, and people have proven they cannot act maturely on this topic.
I made this stamp for myself first and foremost, and it's a bonus if anyone else wants to use it, but ultimately, its not really intended as a point for debate. But if you feel you need to, note me.