There has been increasing concern expressed about the welfare of exotic pets worldwide. For the purposes of this article, an exotic pet is considered to be a non-domesticated species, where there are knowledge gaps on good practice (minimum standards of care), veterinary diagnostics and treatments. The categories of exotic pets included in this study were: small mammals (< 20 kg), large mammals (> 20 kg), birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates. Dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, mice, rats, and ferrets were excluded from the study. An online survey of pet owning staff at University College Dublin was conducted between July and August 2020 to provide the first empirical data for Ireland. In this pilot study (the first in this thematic series) we aim to characterise exotic pet ownership, the challenges and benefits of keeping exotic pets, and access to veterinary services from the pet owner’s perspective. Using an online survey this pilot study gathered evidence from 83 domestic and 32 exotic pet owners within the staff (n = ~ 3600 FTE) at University College Dublin, the largest third level institution in Ireland. The prevalence of exotic pet ownership was determined to be 34.4 % of households with more than 10 % of pet owning households owning only exotic pets. Fish (n = 15), reptiles (n = 13) and birds (n = 8) were the most common types of exotic pets. Thirty-four per cent of exotic pet owners never sought veterinary services, the most common reasons were due to lack of local veterinary specialists (n = 10) and good owner knowledge (n = 8). However identifying appropriate guidance on the animals’ needs was a common challenge for exotic pet owners (n = 13). A reasonable monthly cost of caring for an exotic ranged from €20–180, depending on the species. This pilot study contains important implications for veterinary education to support the veterinary community with providing services to the exotic pet owning community. Policy issues with exotic pet ownership also need to be considered and further research into the proposed strategies to support the health and welfare of exotic pets should be carried out such as the introduction of white lists and guidelines on responsible pet ownership.

中文翻译：

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爱尔兰的外来宠物：1.拥有所有权和获得兽医服务的情况

人们越来越关注世界各地外来宠物的福利。出于本文的目的，外来宠物被认为是非驯化物种，在良好做法（最低护理标准），兽医诊断和治疗方面存在知识空白。这项研究包括的外来宠物类别为：小型哺乳动物（<20公斤），大型哺乳动物（> 20公斤），鸟类，爬行动物，两栖动物，鱼类和无脊椎动物。该研究排除了狗，猫，兔子，仓鼠，沙鼠，豚鼠，小鼠，大鼠和雪貂。2020年7月至2020年8月，对都柏林大学拥有宠物的工作人员进行了在线调查，以提供爱尔兰的第一批经验数据。在这项初步研究中（本专题系列的第一个研究），我们旨在表征外来宠物的所有权，饲养异国宠物的挑战和好处，以及从宠物主人的角度获得兽医服务的机会。通过在线调查，该初步研究从爱尔兰最大的三级机构都柏林大学学院的工作人员（n =〜3600 FTE）中的83名家养宠物和32名外来宠物主人收集了证据。确定的外来宠物拥有率是34.4％的家庭，其中10％以上的拥有宠物的家庭仅拥有外来宠物。鱼（n = 15），爬行动物（n = 13）和鸟类（n = 8）是最常见的外来宠物。34％的外来宠物主人从未寻求兽医服务，最常见的原因是由于缺乏当地兽医专家（n = 10）和良好的主人知识（n = 8）。然而，对于外来宠物主人来说，找到有关动物需求的适当指导是一个共同的挑战（n = 13）。根据物种的不同，照顾一个外来物种的合理每月费用在20-180欧元之间。这项试点研究对兽医教育具有重要意义，以支持兽医社区向拥有异国情调的宠物拥有的社区提供服务。还需要考虑与外来宠物所有权有关的政策问题，并且应该对支持外来宠物健康和福利的拟议策略进行进一步研究，例如引入白名单和负责任的宠物拥有准则。这项试点研究对兽医教育具有重要意义，以支持兽医社区向拥有异国情调的宠物拥有的社区提供服务。还需要考虑与外来宠物所有权有关的政策问题，并且应该对支持外来宠物健康和福利的拟议策略进行进一步研究，例如引入白名单和负责任的宠物拥有准则。这项试点研究对兽医教育具有重要意义，以支持兽医社区向拥有异国情调的宠物拥有的社区提供服务。还需要考虑与外来宠物所有权有关的政策问题，并且应该对支持外来宠物健康和福利的拟议策略进行进一步研究，例如引入白名单和负责任的宠物拥有准则。