Review: Forbidden Creatures by Peter Laufer

So disappointed in this book. I picked it up hoping to get some good insight into animal smuggling and people who live with and breed true exotics (monkeys, apes, large or poisonous snakes, non-domesticated felines, etc) for a story I want to write. Instead I got a long, repetitive screed on “Is it morally right to own pets” that made everyone but the author out to be either clingy emotionally-damaged fussers or macho-people out to dominate mother nature.

Yawn.

And ironically the author himself often talks about his dog and cat without even a little awareness of being a responsible domestic pet owner. (His cat is freely allowed outside despite this being devastating to local ecosystems, and his dog only does tricks for treats, not because a well-mannered socialized dog is safer for a community or more likely to be able to be rehomed if needed for some reason.)

It frustrated me so much that every person interviewed in this book as an exotic pet owner is portrayed so badly. And that there is next to nothing about smuggling, or responsible pet ownership period. It’s all half-truths (like the oft-repeated “you can’t breed the wild out” to which I offer a hearty WTF because how do you think we ended up with the domestic dog? Yeah, you can’t breed the wild out in a few generations or even decades, but it’s battered around so much in the book that I eyerolled every time.)

And speaking of oft-repeated EVERYTHING is repeated. Especially the sad stories of people who put their lives into caring for an animal and tragedy struck. We get it, strong animals with big teeth can be dangerous. So can chihuahuas. Ask any vet or dog groomer what the most dangerous pet is and you’ll likely hear a small dog breed or domestic cat (who can send you to the hospital rather easy since they can carry toxoplasmosis.)

In the end I couldn’t stomach this book after 150 pages. It’s not what it’s advertised as, the author is clearly biased and out more to muse on what crazy people could do this and push scare tactics to villianize any and all pet owners.

Mr. Laufer, you want to know why we own pets? Because like all hobbies, IT MAKES US HAPPY. (And FYI, there are scientifically proven benefits too.)