The ODD LOT

ISBN: 0-9619634-5-X

TITLE: The ODD LOT: Raising Unusual Animals

AUTHOR: Dr. Beattie Inlow

Retail Price: $17.50 - order now $16.95 with free shipping

DESCRIPTION: Curious how to feed, house or learn more about fallow deer, Shetland sheep or kangaroos?
What do you do with an emu?
How do you house a wild cat?
Miniature donkeys are cute, but where can you buy one?

THE ODD LOT answers these questions and more. The information compiled in the 108 pages came from actual owners. The book is indexed and includes personal reflections from actual owners about raising a wide variety of unusual critters.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

EXCERPT:

INTRODUCTION

The domestication of animals for pet or product dates back centuries. Although more than 4,000 species of mammals exist in the world, a mere 18 have been domesticated for commercial purposes and 15 for farms or pets.

Information, health care, accessories, shelter and feed are readily available for these 33 animals. The local library, veterinarian, feed store or County Extension Office offer assistance in raising and caring for traditional domestic pets or farm animals. Millions of people from all walks of life own one or more of these pets – dog, cat, bird, fish. Farms with pigs, sheep, goats, cows and horses exist within almost every country in this nation. Animal control centers speculate by the number of licensed pets the ration between pet and human population is at lest 1:1.

Such basic information – health resources and feed – are not always so easily attained when it comes to raising exotic or unusual animals.

By definition an exotic animal originated in another part of the world. Many of the animals discussed in these pages are currently classified by the state and/or federal government as domestic or farm animals rather than exotic. When the government considers an animal exotic, the laws pertaining to ownership are either prohibited or highly restrictive.

Some of the exotics described in this book are animals with special or varying characteristics from its domesticated counterpart. The exotic may be smaller or larger than the norm of that species, i.e., pygmy goat, pot-belly pig. The exotic may usually be seen in zoos rather than in domestic situations, i.e., wallabies, deer. These special pets may be rather hard to find and often expensive to purchase, i.e., ocelot, alpaca. Again, ownership of an exotic animal may involve separate laws or government agencies to influence exactly how and where these animals ma be kept i.e. wild cats, deer.

In 1990 my husband, Richard and I were in search of a companionable animal to raise with the llamas on our seven acre farm. We found no written resource for raising the animals were considering namely serval cats, sika deer or wallabies. Only through word of mouth and visiting various farms did we glean the information we sought.

We saw a need for a book to answer questions a potential owner or the simply curious might ask about certain animals not native to the United States. We felt the best resources were actual owners of these exotic animals. In 1990 a survey (see Appendix) was sent to 6,000 pet owners inside various exotic animal publications.

Richard Inlow, prior to his death in 1993, tallied the enthusiastic responses of these exotic animal owners. Every respondent wrote with love and care for their animal. Each wrote with a hope the reader would learn more about the animal and appreciate their pet’s uniqueness. Several sent photos.

In the following pages of THE ODD LOT these real people with real experience raising exotic animals offer their wisdom, wit and enthusiasm.

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