Servals, with their striking spotted coats and large ears, might look like miniature leopards, sparking curiosity about keeping them as pets. However, despite their moderate size – often compared to a medium-sized dog – servals are unequivocally wild animals. Native to the African savannas and wetlands, these felines are adapted to a life of hunting and roaming freely. Bringing a serval cat into a domestic setting as a pet often leads to significant welfare issues for the animal and potential safety concerns for owners and the community.
The Untamed Nature of Servals: Not Domesticated Pets
Servals are not domesticated animals. They retain all their wild instincts, making them challenging and potentially dangerous pets. Their inherent behaviors, honed for survival in the wild, are often incompatible with home life. Servals are naturally cunning escape artists with powerful agility. Confining them in a typical home or even a purpose-built enclosure is difficult and stressful for them. If a serval escapes, it poses a risk to its keepers, the public, and even local wildlife. Tragically, escaped servals, unfamiliar with hunting in a domestic landscape, often face grim fates, succumbing to starvation or road accidents.
In a stark example of the issues surrounding serval ownership, in 2019, the BC SPCA (British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) rescued 13 servals from deplorable conditions near Kamloops, Canada. These animals required months of specialized care before they could be relocated to accredited sanctuaries in the United States. This case, and others like it, highlight the significant challenges and ethical concerns associated with keeping wild animals like servals as pets. The BC SPCA, supported by over 6,600 individuals, has actively campaigned for provincial regulations to prohibit the private ownership, breeding, display, and importation of servals. Unfortunately, government action is still pending, leaving these animals vulnerable to exploitation and unsuitable living conditions.
The Welfare Challenges of Serval Cat Ownership
Servals are naturally equipped with incredible physical capabilities. They are strong, fast, and possess an extraordinary jumping ability, leaping high to catch birds or stun fish in their natural habitat. These natural behaviors are difficult to accommodate in a domestic setting. House-training a serval is notoriously difficult, and they frequently mark their territory with urine, a behavior deeply ingrained in their wild nature.
Providing adequate nutrition and veterinary care for a wild cat like a serval in captivity presents further significant hurdles. Their dietary needs are specialized and challenging to replicate with typical pet food. Without their complex needs being fully met, servals in captivity inevitably suffer from poor welfare, experiencing stress and frustration. Compounding the issue, Canada currently lacks accredited sanctuaries specifically equipped to house servals, leaving limited options for rehoming if owners can no longer care for them. The unregulated breeding of servals further exacerbates these welfare concerns, as animal welfare organizations are often ill-equipped to handle the influx of these wild cats needing rescue.
Declawing Servals: An Inhumane Practice and Increased Risk
Declawing, the painful removal of a cat’s nails and bones in their toes, was historically practiced on servals kept as pets to mitigate their scratching behavior. The BC SPCA has long been a vocal opponent of declawing, emphasizing its cruelty and detrimental impact on feline welfare. Fortunately, the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia (CVBC) has since banned declawing, recognizing its inhumane nature. This ban, while a victory for animal welfare, means that servals kept as pets pose an even greater risk of scratching, whether during play or out of frustration stemming from their unmet wild needs. Their natural scratching behavior is a crucial part of their communication, hunting, and overall well-being, and attempting to suppress it through declawing or confinement only leads to further stress and behavioral problems.
Legal Protections and Responsible Pet Ownership
Currently, in British Columbia, servals are not listed under the provincial Controlled Alien Species legislation, unlike other dangerous wild cats such as tigers, lions, leopards, lynx, and bobcats, which are prohibited as pets. This lack of regulation for servals contributes to their exploitation, suffering, and unregulated breeding. The BC SPCA is urging the Ministry to include servals in the Controlled Alien Species list to provide them with the legal protection they need and prevent them from being kept as pets.
You can take action: Support responsible pet ownership and animal welfare by emailing the Director of Wildlife and Habitat at [email protected] to advocate for the inclusion of servals on the Controlled Alien Species list.
The BC SPCA also encourages municipalities and governments to enact exotic pet laws that prohibit the keeping of servals and other exotic animals, prioritizing animal welfare and public safety. Choosing a pet that is genuinely domesticated and suited to home life is a crucial aspect of responsible pet ownership. When it comes to serval cats, their wild nature makes them unsuitable as pets, and advocating for their protection in the wild is the most responsible and ethical approach.
