I just read the thread about wanting to own a pure breed cat… but, what piqued my interest was Sandman’s comment about the pet shop that has 2 chameleons.
I’ve also been into this shop and seen some pretty bizarre animals for sale, alligators, some kind of manta ray (I’m no expert so cannot be sure what it was) frogs etc. I can foresee a time when some local TWese who does not know what they are getting themselves into, buy a “hao ke ai” ferret or exotic snake just for the coolness factor.
So, my question is… What are you allowed/ not allowed to own under TWese law?
I’m not in the market at the moment for any pets, so I’m just asking out of curiosity.
Foresee? The time is now. I go past or into that shop nearly every week and the stock changes rapidly, so they’re definitely selling the stuff. I also saw a young xiaojie outside Sogo one day with one of those Australian spiny lizards in her arms on a leash.
I don’t know whether they’re captive bred here, captive bred overseas and imported or captured in the wild and smuggled, but its probably a bit of all three. I know my neighbour smuggled some kind of potto or lemur thing into Taiwan for his kid – its dead already, of course.
the majority of australian animals here are illegal. there are no (as of 2 years) registered importers of australian wildlife. i would hazard a guess this applies for most other ‘exotic’ animals for sale here.
the whole concept of purchasing and ‘owning’ any animals disturbs me.