Domestication

In 1959 the fur industry in Russia tried to find a solution to the problem of difficult to handle wild foxes being raised for their fur. Soviet geneticist Dmitri Belyaev was enlisted to help with the problem and started a very well known experiment to domesticate the fox. Belyaev felt that the key to domestication was selection for tameness.

Fifty years later Belyaev's experiment is still on-going. Foxes today are 35 generations removed from the original foxes in the study -- with only the tamest foxes being bred. One of the most interesting effects of selecting ONLY for temperament has been the changes in the domesticated foxes physical appearance. Coats developed a piebald appearance, tails shortened and in some cases curled, and ears flopped instead of sticking straight up.

This is significant since it indicates that the diversity in appearance of our domestic dog could have originally developed as a result of selection for behavior. While in modern times dog fanciers select for appearance, long ago dogs were bred for function, and the ear carriage, coat color and length would have been a much smaller, if not irrelevant consideration.

True domestication is the result of animals being bred over many generations in such a way that they have been genetically altered to not only appear different than their wild counterparts -- but to be much more tractable than them. This differs from tameness -- which merely means that an animal has been raised in such a way that makes it easier to handle than it's wild relatives, however it has not necessarily been genetically changed and still retains it's wild behaviors, instincts and appearances.

Roy Horn of the duo Siegfried and Roy was seriously injured when he was bitten in the neck by a 7 year old tiger he'd raised from a cub that was part of his Las Vegas act. While the tiger had a relationship with Horn, it was still a wild animal.

Recently Belyaev's foxes have offered for sale in the United States through a distributor in Las Vegas, NV called Sibfox. For only $5,950 a person can have their own domesticated fox transported from the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Russia.

While these foxes truly are domesticated animals, I have a problem with this for many reasons. First of all -- not much is known about keeping a fox as a pet. We don't know what their natural behavior is, nor do we know if a rabies vaccination developed for dogs is effective for foxes. The website states that there are very few fox owners out there, and so not many people have yet experienced them as pets.

This brings me to the next problem. On Sibfoxes FAQ page it states: "...none of our clients expressed interest in sharing their contact information with the public for any purpose. However, we can e-mail questions that you may have to them and determine whether they want to respond by email or telephone." So a potential purchaser does not have an opportunity to directly contact a current fox owner to ask questions.

The FAQ section also indicates that a prospective buyer has no opportunity to meet the fox they are purchasing prior to purchase, much less meet it's parents. Animal welfare professionals recommend that when purchasing an animal from a breeder the parents be met since the parents behavior is indicitive of what the temperament of it's offspring will have.

While I'm fascinated by the research results of Belyaev's foxes, I am very unhappy about having even domesticated foxes become pets. While the FAQ section indicated that all foxes will be neutered before being shipped to the United States (most likely as a way for them to remain the only source of the domestic fox pet trade), I see no reason for a new canid to become pets -- after we are very familiar with the behavior and care of dogs. And there are so many of them out there in need of a home.

What's short, and long and doesn't belong in WI?

Yesterday HAWS got a call from the Muskego Police Department asking us to come and pick up an animal. This isn't an unusual request -- HAWS does pick-ups of animals all over Waukesha County. Sometimes it's a stray cat, dog or even ferret that someone found. Sometimes it's a sick or injured native Wisconsin wild animal that we then transfer to a wild-life rehabilitation center.

What made this particular call unusual is that it was a wild animal that isn't native to Wisconsin.

Someone fishing in Big Muskego Lake had seen an alligator over a period of several days and was finally able to capture it. Obviously alligators are not a species native to Wisconsin. The alligator isn't talking, but we assume that he (she?) was someone's pet that had become too difficult to keep, and so that person decided to get rid it it by releasing it into the lake.

Unfortunately the easy way out for the human was the worst thing to do for the alligator. A native of the southeastern part of the United States, the American Alligator would be incapable of surviving the cold temperatures and icy water we get here during Wisconsin winters.

This is not the first alligator found in the midwest this year. About a month ago an alligator was found in the Chicago River -- most likely a victim of a different pet owner unable to care for an animal that was getting bigger and more aggressive.

American Alligators are very aggressive, can live up to 60 years, and can grow to be 13 feet long. It would be very difficult for most people to provide an appropriate habitat for an alligator when full grown, and it would be a dangerous animal to keep without proper precautions. It's not fair to keep a wild animal as a baby only to "get rid of it" as it grows and becomes more difficult to manage.

However, if someone does have an animal they can no longer keep, we encourage them to surrender them to their local animal shelter -- where the animal can be properly cared for.

In the meantime - the HAWS alligator is basking in the warmth of a heath lamp. In a few days he'll be transferred to a reputable rescue in Illinois where he'll get the care that he needs and deserves.

What to do About Millie?

Last week someone surrendered a capuchin monkey. Her owner had passed away, and as a result Millie was homeless.

Our staff, knowing nothing about capuchin monkeys, scrambled to find information on the internet so that we could make her stay here comfortable. Just by doing a google search on this species we found that there are many dealers that sell these animals as pets.

Doing my own research on wild capuchin monkeys I discovered that they spend their days searching for food high up in the trees of the forests of Central and South America. Very social, they tend to live in groups of 6 to 40 other capuchins, in territories of up to 200 acres.

While I'm sure Millie's former owner did the best he could; Millie lived in an enclosure that was 4 feet by 4 feet -- much, much smaller than her wild relatives with their 200 acres. We were told that seven years ago she became too aggressive to handle. So Millie was not allowed out of her cage -- not allowed direct contact with her owner or others, and I imagine she lived a very solitary and lonely life.

Unfortunately it is not illegal in many places to own exotic wild animals such as a capuchin monkey. For $7,000 you can purchase one to have in your house. Look on the web and you'll find many photographs of capuchins dressed up like little dolls in baby clothes.

Yes, they may be cute, and some owners might be regarded as "cool" for owning such an animal. But how happy is a wild animal when taken out of it's native environment and not allowed to live the life it was meant to live?

Millie's story has an ending -- she was given to a sanctuary that takes in monkeys who no longer have a home. Unfortunately there are many of these animals that start out as pets, but then become homeless. We hope Millie can find a small amount of happiness during the last years of her life.