# Stupid people buying into stupid fads - Meerkats aren't pets. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 22, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220 "2011-09-22T18:06:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/1 "2011-09-22T18:06:21Z")
Over here in the U.K., there’s been a [recent series of ads which features cute loveable meerkats](http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/cambridgeshire/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8716000/8716037.stm) trying to sell you car insurance (with an [inexplicable Russian accent](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ust9YBlEfY)). Naturally, this fad for the adorable fuzzy animals has encouraged people to take it upon themselves to acquire the animals for themselves, buying them as pets with no thought as to how to actually keep them. A girl at work was talking about getting one - I managed to dissuade her on the basis that they are vicious pack-based desert dwelling burrowers, best suited for the Kalahari desert of Botswana and not a living room in suburban England. This is one of the stupidest trends I’ve seen as it actually causes cruelty to animals, being kept in unsuitable environment. Any trends you can remember that rival or compare to it? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/2 "2011-09-22T18:26:44Z")
Are people in the UK allowed to keep any animal as a pet? In my state there are pretty strict regulations not only about what you’re allowed to have, but what you have to do to keep it. > [@](#): > > To receive a permit to possess an exotic animal in the State of Tennessee, the applicant for the permit must be at least 21 years old, they must have at least 2 years of handling or caring for the species of exotic animal they are applying for the permit for, the applicant must reside on the premises where the exotic animal will be housed or the animal must have a full-time caretaker that supervises the care and security of the animal and the facility that houses the animal. The applicant must pay the fee that coincides with the type of exotic animal for which they are applying. This fee will range from $10 to $150 for a personal possession permit. StG ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/3 "2011-09-22T18:29:37Z")
I don’t think people climbing aboard the pet-animal-fad train are necessarily concerned with the legalities of owning the animal they want. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/4 "2011-09-22T18:35:29Z")
I did a bit of Googling to find out - if it isn’t illegal, it should be. However according to the Daily Mail (take that for what it’s worth) they are subject to only general animal welfare laws: "The problem is that there is no law against keeping meerkats. Owners do have a ‘duty of care’ to their pets and have to meet their ’ behavioural and social needs’ - or face prosecution under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act. But such rules are hard to enforce. You don’t need a licence to keep or breed them, so the number of meerkats being kept as pets is impossible to estimate. " > **[Meerkat misery: Thanks to that TV ad, they're now a must-have pet... but...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1281692/Meerkat-misery-Thanks-TV-ad-theyre-pet--cute-image-lies-shocking-cruelty.html)** > > The animals, were originally bought from zoos by experienced breeders, but they are now in such high demand that amateurs are cashing in on the trend. The girl I was talking with didn’t seem concerned with the legalities of the matter, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/5 "2011-09-22T21:09:13Z")
Not that I approve of keeping wild animals as pets, but other than the burrowing behavior, would a meerkat be any different than keeping a ferret, which a lot of people do? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/6 "2011-09-22T22:02:00Z")
Ferrets are domesticated, whereas meerkats are wild animals. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/7 "2011-09-22T23:05:29Z")
And have been domesticated for over a thousand years, for that matter. Plus vets know what diseases ferrets should be vaccinated against - canine distemper, rabies - and have approved vaccines for them. Ferret chow is available in any halfway decent pet store, and high-quality kitten food will suffice if you don’t have access to that. Plus ferrets are well-suited to living indoors in most temperate climates (and outdoors, caged, in many climates - they start suffering above 75-80 F), while I have no idea what temperatures best suit a meerkat. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/8 "2011-09-23T03:09:56Z")
A car insurance commercial with a cute, lovable, talking meerkat with a Russian accent? That’s almost as preposterous as a gecko with an English accent. 🙂 As others have said, ferrets have been domesticated for over a thousand years and their dispositions in no way compare to those of wild animals. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about meerkats kept in captivity. > [@](#): > > Meerkats make very poor pets. They bite, and the bite can become infected. They stink, and will scent-mark their owner and the house (their “territory”). Being a pack animal, they may become hysterical if kept as single pets. > **[Meerkat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkat#Domestication)** > > The meerkat (Suricata suricatta) or suricate is a small mongoose found in southern Africa. It is characterised by a broad head, large eyes, a pointed snout, long legs, a thin tapering tail, and a brindled coat pattern. The head-and-body length is around 24–35 cm (9.4–13.8 in), and the weight is typically between 0.62 and 0.97 kg (1.4 and 2.1 lb). The coat is light grey to yellowish-brown with alternate, poorly defined light and dark bands on the back. Meerkats have foreclaws adapted for dig... ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/9 "2011-09-23T03:12:00Z")
So okay, but would a meerkat be domesticatable? How come we as humans don’t seem to be domesticating animals anymore? Fear of giving PETA more stuff to bitch about? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/10 "2011-09-23T03:14:35Z")
AFAIR, ferrets have been domesticated about as long as cats - 4,000 years at least. (I had 3 at one point) Quick, without googling: what’s the collective noun for ferrets? business or fesnyng ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/11 "2011-09-23T03:17:24Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > So okay, but would a meerkat be domesticatable? How come we as humans don’t seem to be domesticating animals anymore? Fear of giving PETA more stuff to bitch about? Too much effort, basically. It takes a bunch of generations of selective breeding to really domesticate an animal, and you really want lots of people doing it to sustain a large gene pool. It’s much easier to just get a cat/dog/horse/cow whatever that’s the product of hundreds to thousands of years of effort than to start over, and hope like hell your descendants will play along. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/12 "2011-09-23T03:19:51Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > Too much effort, basically. It takes a bunch of generations of selective breeding to really domesticate an animal, and you really want lots of people doing it to sustain a large gene pool. It’s much easier to just get a cat/dog/horse/cow whatever that’s the product of hundreds to thousands of years of effort than to start over, and hope like hell your descendants will play along. I remember seeing an article about an ongoing effort in Russia to domesticate foxes. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/13 "2011-09-23T03:24:44Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I remember seeing an article about an ongoing effort in Russia to domesticate foxes. [Wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox). I think it was in **Guns, Germs, and Steel** where I read that humans more or less domesticated all of the easy and useful animals already. ---
**Author:** ![Vahid\_Tarzan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3e96dc/32.png) [@Vahid\_Tarzan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vahid_Tarzan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/14 "2011-09-23T03:29:26Z")
Human beings can bond with any animal. A possum, for example, can be very affectionate. Animals, such as ourselves answer to their heart. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/15 "2011-09-23T03:31:13Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I remember seeing an article about an ongoing effort in Russia to domesticate foxes. It’s a poorly-funded but long-running [Russian experiment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox). They’re raising funds by (how else?!) selling the results of the experiment, i.e., pet foxes, to nutty Americans. In the US, meerkats (and some other mongoose species) have a national Injurious Species designation. That means a federal permit to possess them, including written permission when moving them from one location to another. We have a colony of meerkats at the small zoo where I work, and we require written permission even to move them between enclosures on the zoo grounds. I can’t imagine a worse pet. Well, yes, I can, but, for goodness sakes. They’re so very social, I can’t imagine having a single one ever being happy, and if you keep more than one, they fight ferociously ALL THE TIME. We’ve heard from San Francisco Zoo that, after their colony has all passed away (“attrition”, in the biz) they won’t be replacing them - too many vet issues. Dogs and cats, people. OK, rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, rats, small constrictors, some lizards… but let’s be sensible about this. Meerkats?! ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/16 "2011-09-23T05:19:14Z")
I think that Meerkats are about the cutest thing ever! I love looking at pictures and vids of them. If I were ever to travel to an area where I might be able to sit in a car and take pics, I’d be so up for it. I’d never ever consider trying to touch one. I once tried to pick up a third generation feral cat. Said cat wasn’t a stranger to me, I’d been feeding and touching her for almost 5 years. I still carry the scars. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/17 "2011-09-23T07:59:44Z")
It’s been claimed (though I haven’t seen any hard statistics) that when the remake of “101 Dalmatians” came out, dalmatians were suddenly in demand as family pets, and that “Finding Nemo” spurred an interest in saltwater aquariums so the kids could have their own little clownfish. Dalmatians, though lovely dogs, aren’t necessarily the best choice for a family pet. I think it’s worse with the saltwater aquariums, though - they are hard to keep, not for novices, and the catching of wild saltwater fish for aquariums is a nasty nasty business. As a proponent of rats as pets, I suppose I should be glad “Ratatouille” didn’t inspire people to get their own little Remy. (Rats are lovely pets, far better than hamsters, but they are intelligent, social creatures that don’t thrive on being left alone in a tiny cage in a kids’ bedroom.) I love seahorses, but I would never keep them as pets, although I know some people do. I’d probably end up killing them, and besides, capture for the pet market is part of what is endangering many species of seahorses. I also think meerkats are adorable, but I would never try keeping one as a pet, mostly because I figure they are perfectly capable of ripping my face off. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/18 "2011-09-23T13:04:36Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > I think that Meerkats are about the cutest thing ever! Apparently you’ve never seen a [sugar glider;](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_glider) they’re much cuter. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/19 "2011-09-23T13:10:08Z")
I’m still waiting on my [miniature giraffe!](http://www.petitelapgiraffe.com/) Opulence. I has it. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220/20 "2011-09-23T13:17:52Z")
ISTR Harry Potter made people want to have pet owls, which is another terrible animal to domesticate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-people-buying-into-stupid-fads-meerkats-arent-pets/597220.md?page=2)