Usually acquired while they are easily managed infants, exotic animals eventually exert their natural behaviors of biting, spitting, hissing, and attacking.
In 1999, PAWS helped find sanctuary for an African serval after the 40lb. cat bit the Washington family?s young daughter.
A four-year-old boy had his arm torn off by a ?pet? tiger at his uncle?s home in Texas this past spring.
Also earlier this year, a Chicago woman spent eight days in the hospital after her seven-year-old Great Java macaque attacked her. The woman?s dog had been attacked months earlier and required surgery for the wounds. The monkey was killed so that his brain tissue could be tested for rabies and other diseases.
In 1999, an Illinois family?s pet python strangled to death their 3 year-old boy.
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http://www.paws.org/work/factsheet/a...xoticpets.html