Many of you have dogs or cats or maybe even birds as pets. However, there are some people in the school who have some not very common pets.

In the Columbus School, many students own pets. Most of these pets are either dogs or cats. However, there are some people in the school who own unusual or sometimes even straight up weird pets. For example, Sebastian Betancur, a ninth-grade student owns a hedgehog. For some this may seem as an unusual pet but for him it is perfectly normal. “There wasn’t much thought into buying it, I just got it because I thought it looked cute.”

There are people who enjoy looking at snakes in zoos or public exhibits, however there are students such as Martin Gomez prefer to keep them at his house. “I have a pet snake.” said Gomez. “Most people think it’s very weird and dangerous, but I really enjoy having my pet snake.” He also said that taking care of a snake is relatively easy, the main issue is taking the snake out periodically to wash the case he keeps the snake in. Although it’s a small snake he still must be careful when taking care of it. There is always the risk of getting bitten, although there haven’t been any bites yet.

Despite the sudden rise in weird pets, not only in the school but also worldwide, many animals have been hunted down for profit. After drug dealing and arms dealing, illegal animal trade is the third most lucrative illegal business in Colombia. Illegal animal trade worldwide brings in a profit of about $20 billion per year, according to ABC news. There are certain parameters that need to be reached before being able to own certain types of animals. “You have to have certain papers if you want to own one of these pets,” said Betancur. “If the animal is born in captivity however, you don’t need the papers.” However, many illegal trade groups ignore these parameters and sell exotic animals either way.

The students who own these pets don’t believe they are weird at all. For them it’s like having any ordinary pet at home, pets such as hedgehogs and snakes is like owning any other common pet. For example, 9th grader Nicolas Zarate never thought having two pet turtles was weird. “No one has ever really thought it was weird, especially not me,” said Nicolas. “I’ve always thought it was pretty normal to be honest.”

However, these animals are not easy to take care of. According to the ABC News, “You don’t find three-fingered sloths in zoos in the States because they’re so difficult to keep.” Many of these exotic and weird pets need a different kind of care than regular common house animals including different kinds of food, cages, beds, and ways to exercise that you normally wouldn’t buy for any ordinary pets. Many of these animals need very specific types of food, like in a hedgehog’s diet, where there needs to be a variety of dry foods, moist foods, vegetables, water, and treats. Or like the in the case of larger snakes you need to supply live food like rats and mice. But other than food, you also need to supply living quarters the animal can survive in. For example, for a Bearded Dragon, a type of lizard, you must have a glass aquarium, dried out with sand and provide heating to emulate their natural habitat.

Many people think that having these weird and exotic pets should be illegal and considered animal cruelty since these animals are being taken out of their natural habitat for human’s amusement. However, people who own these pets think otherwise. Many exotic pet owners argue that it isn’t animal cruelty or against the law since they are giving them a good healthy life, providing them with food, and giving them a place to live in. The people who say it’s illegal main argument is that its animal cruelty, however they fail to acknowledge the fact that animal cruelty is present even with dogs and cats as pets in cases like illegal dog fighting rings or dogs being forced to work. Failing to acknowledge these facts is why owning exotic pets is such a controversial topic and why exotic pet owners are looked down upon.