Fox Valley Humane Association sees increase in 'exotic' pets
GREENVILLE — They got their goat. Two goats, actually.
And their tarantula, hermit crab, boa constrictor and iguana. Plus, a horse.
The creatures made the list of "exotic" animals — those other than dogs or cats — at the Fox Valley Humane Association in 2010. At last count, there were 254 exotic pets in the association's trust, the highest number any employee can remember. Fortunately, many found good homes.
"The numbers (of exotics) have definitely gone up," said Tawana Hanamann, medical coordinator at the shelter. "The vast majority are surrendered animals. A lot of times they're impulse purchases."
A major contributor to the upswing is the profusion of unusual animals now listed for sale on the Internet, said Debbie Lewis, executive director of the association.
People get rid of animals for numerous reasons: children decide to no longer care for them and a parent relinquishes them; owners move or can't afford to keep a pet; or they lack the time, or desire, to care for them. Or they seek to have them euthanized.
It is, however, unusual for a horse to come the association's way.
Lewis said the owner of the 18-year-old horse suffered from failing health and signed over the steed to the association.
"The horse is in foster care in Pine River and he'll be there through the winter with the possibility of adoption in spring," she said.
Animals that are healthy have been adopted by new owners, placed with education centers or taken by rescue groups, which, in turn, prepare them for adoption.
Often, police agencies turn critters over to the shelter following arrest of their keepers.
That was the case with the tarantula. The association donated it to Thousand Islands Environmental Center in Kaukauna, whose educational tarantula died last year.
The center's staff promptly dubbed the spider Serena.
"It's a striped-knee tarantula," said Debbie Nowak, naturalist at the center. "By the size, I believe it's a female. She seems to be doing pretty well."
The two goats that wound up at the shelter found new homes at a hobby farm. One animal was a male pygmy goat, turned in by a Chicago Cubs fan, who received the goat as a gift from a practical joker.
"He was afraid of some kind of curse and had it for only a day," Hanamann said, referring to the legendary "Curse of the Billy Goat" that dates to 1945 at the Cubs' home in Wrigley Field.
Most people who buy small reptiles like geckos and small mammals care for them for life because they're enjoyable and fairly easy to care for, said Tina Spaeth, general manager of the Petco store in Buchanan.
"Sales are steady, same as usual," she said.
www.postcrescent.com/article/20110120/APC0101/101200516/More-exotic-pets-arriving-at-shelters
